The high school class of 2005 recorded what officials say are the highest-ever average scores on the math portion of the SAT college entrance exam, a modest jump from last year that comes amid conflicting data on the math skills of American students.
Seniors who finished high school last spring scored 520 out of a possible 800 on the math section, 2 points higher than the class of 2004. Average scores on the verbal section were unchanged at 508, according to results released Tuesday by the College Board, the nonprofit organization that owns the SAT.
The College Board also released preliminary results from the first three sittings of the new SAT, which features for the first time a writing section. Members of the class of 2006 began taking the new SAT last spring. They scored an average 516 on the writing section, which includes an essay, compared to 519 on critical reading (the new name for the verbal section) and 537 in math.
The record 1.48 million members of the class of 2005 who took the SAT were the last to take the old version, which had only verbal and math sections. Full results for the class of 2006 will be released a year from now. The College Board emphasized that students who take the test as juniors are typically more highly motivated, so average scores could decline.
For the class of 2005, scores improved for all ethnic groups, though significant gaps remain. Composite scores for black students rose 7 points to 864, but that remains more than 200 points below the average composite score for white students.
Average scores for boys rose 1 point to 538, while girls' scores rose 3 points to 504.
College Board President Gaston Caperton said the improvement in math was encouraging, but the flat trend in verbal scores indicates the need "to emphasize the core literacy skills of reading and writing in all courses across the curriculum starting in the earlier grades."
The results come at a time when a variety of tests -- on students of varying ages and measuring different kinds of skills -- are presenting mixed signals about what if any proGREss American students are making in math.
Figures released in July from the National Assessment of Educational ProGREss showed the nation's 9- and 13-year-olds recorded their highest math scores ever, though scores for 17-year-olds were flat. A study released in December found U.S. eighth graders closing the gap with international peers in math and science.
However, that study found fourth-graders slipping further behind. And another study released at about the same time found the United States below 20 of 29 industrialized nations in math.
The ACT college entrance exam, a rival to the SAT that is more popular in about half the states, reported earlier this month overall and math scores for the high school class of 2005 were unchanged from a year ago. Most colleges accept either test.
The claim that average SAT math scores have never been higher is not quite clear cut. The test was "recentered" in 1995, which significantly increased students' average scores. The College Board then went back and recalculated scores from prior years using the new system.
Officials said this year's math scores are the highest ever on that scale. However, the board had to use estimates to calculate average scores before 1972.
