SAT scores show disparities by race, gender, family income

By Mary Beth Marklein, USA TODAY

Average national SAT scores for the high school class of 2009 dropped two points compared with last year, a report out Tuesday says. And while the population of test takers was the most diverse ever, average scores vary widely by race and ethnicity.  On one end, students who identified themselves as Asian, Asian-American or Pacific Islander posted a 13-point gain. On the other end, students who identified themselves as Puerto Rican posted a 9-point drop in average scores.

“We are tremendously encouraged by the increasing diversity,” said College Board president Gaston Caperton. “More than ever, the SAT reflects the diversity of students in our nation’s classrooms.”

But Bob Schaeffer, spokesman for the National Center for Fair & Open Testing, a critic of standardized tests, says what stands out to him “is widening gaps of all sorts — race, gender and income — at a time when the nation is spending billions of dollars allegedly trying to close those gaps. The promise of No Child Left Behind and of many high-stakes state testing programs is that testing is going to improve educational quality. That’s not what the data show.”

The differences in total SAT scores by ethnicity was most extreme between Asian students (1623 out of 2400) and black students (1276, a four-point drop). Puerto Rican students averaged 1345. The national average was 1509. Top score is 800 in each of the three SAT sections.

Total scores also dropped two points on average for white students (1581) and Mexican and Mexican American students (1362), and increased two points for American Indian or Alaskan natives (1448).

Disparities in scores by gender and income also widened.

•Average scores dropped 5 points for females and 2 points for males. While females represent more than half (53.5%) of test takers, their total average score (1496) is 27 points below that of males (1523).

•The highest average score of all (1702, up 26 points) was posted by students who said their families earned more than $200,000 a year. Students whose reported family income was less than $20,000 a year averaged 1321, up 1 point.

The report’s analysis notes that students who had completed a core curriculum, taken their school’s most rigorous courses and familiarized themselves with the test were among the strongest performers.

For example, students who took an Advanced Placement or honors math course scored on average 79 points above the national average math score. And students who had previously taken the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test scored 121 points higher on average than those who did not take the test.

“The SAT directly reflects what students have learned in school and how they use that knowledge,” said senior vice president Laurence Bunin. “That’s why the latest research continues to validate that the SAT, when combined with high school grades, is the best predictor of college success.”