Ohio SAT-takers beat national average, and Pa.

The College Board has released reams of statistics on the SAT scores.

By LINDA M. LINONIS

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

By the look of the numbers, 33,902 Ohio high school students in the Class of 2007 who took the SAT, a college entrance exam, did better than the national average scores.

In Pennsylvania, 105,911 students took the test and didn’t fare as well.

The College Board, which recently released state-by-state reports with pages of scores and statistics on students’ test performances, noted that the mean score is the arithmetic average. The College Board announced that the national average of SAT scores was 502 out of a possible 800 points on reading and 515 for math. In the writing section, which is new and still in the experimental stage, students scored an average of 494 points.

In Ohio, overall scores were: critical reading average of 536, math average of 542 and writing, 522.

In Pennsylvania, overall scores were: critical reading average of 493, math average of 499 and writing, 482.

Students also may take the ACT exam, which noted a rise in scores in an announcement earlier this month.

ACT more popular in Ohio

According to data on the ACT Web site (www.act.org), 86,080 Ohio students and 15,905 Pennsylvania students in the graduating class of 2007 took the test; and 1,300,599 students nationwide took the exam. The highest possible ACT score is 36 and the national average for 2007 test-takers was 21.2; in 2006, it was 21.1.

“Less than 20 percent of our students take the SAT. The ACT is the big one here,” noted Dave Kornbau, associate principal at Boardman High School. He said 78 percent of BHS students take the ACT.

Why? If a student takes the SAT test, he usually takes it one time and has one chance to get a decent score, Kornbau explained. “Students usually take the ACT more than once,” he said. “The scores determine scholarship money and placement in school.”

Kornbau said that as more students take the SAT, representing a more diverse group and some that aren’t college-bound, the scores will probably go down. He pointed out that low scores by a few students on the exams “affects the whole number significantly.”

Frank Thomas, principal at Howland High School, said the majority of students there take the ACT. “It depends on where they’re applying to school. They look at what test the college or university prefers and take that,” he said. “Elite or Ivy League schools prefer the SAT.”

No prep in school

Thomas pointed out students may access private tutoring for the SAT or ACT exams, but nothing is offered at school. “We’re focusing on getting them through state-mandated tests. The emphasis is on that.”

“Most students realize the need for education beyond high school whether it’s college, technical or trade school. They know taking these tests is the next step,” he added.

Kathryn Hellweg, superintendent of Warren schools, said, “Most students take the ACT, not SAT.

“We encourage students to take the test more than once ... to get test experience, get an idea of the format and to help them see areas they need to work on.”

The College Board’s report said that the 2007 average SAT reading score is 502, a 1-point decline from 2006. Average scores in math went from 518 last year to 515 this year and writing from 497 in 2006 to 494 this year.

More diverse test-takers

The College Board noted that the overall combined math and science and reading SAT scores were the lowest in eight years.

But the College Board noted that the statistics reflected that a more diverse pool of students is taking the exam. A factor that might have contributed to lower scores is the fact that the board lengthened and redesigned the exam last year.

Previously, the long-term trend in math scores was on the increase. The scores hit an all-time high in 2005 with 520, then slipped in 2006 and 2007.

The long-term trend for reading has been essentially flat, the report said. Reading scores for females held at 502 but slipped one point for males to 504 compared with a year ago. In the last decade, the gap favoring males in reading has gone from 9 points to 2 points this year.

Since the writing section is relatively new, it’s too soon to predict a trend. But the College Board reported that 66 percent of 2007 college-bound students took English composition in high school. The average writing score for those students was 521. The writing section favors females by 11 points with females scoring 500 and males, 489. In Ohio and Pennsylvania, the average was 494.

XCheck out www.collegeboard.com for complete overall and state-by-state statistics.