Slipping scores spur debate on altered SAT
Some educators say test is too long
The SAT scores of the state's college-bound seniors have dipped for the first time in 15 years, sparking debate about whether students faltered because the revamped exam now lasts nearly four hours.
The numbers for the class of 2006, released yesterday, mirrored a national decline in scores. They were the first statewide results reported since the addition of a writing section, the biggest change to the Scholastic Assessment Tests in more than a decade. The new section, in which students write an essay and answer multiple-choice questions about grammar, added 45 minutes to the exam.
Yesterday, college counselors and state Education Commissioner David P. Driscoll said the dips in students' scores should prompt the New York-based College Board, which administers the exam, to examine whether students are tiring during the test.
College Board officials attributed the drops in reading and math to fewer students choosing to retake the SAT since the writing portion was added, but stressed that they did not think the exam's length led to the biggest dip in the national average in 31 years.
This year's Massachusetts high school graduates scored an average of 513 on the reading portion, 10 points higher than the national average -- but a seven-point drop compared with last year's state figures. They scored an average of 524 on the math section, six points higher than the nation -- but a three-point decrease from last year. The state average in writing was 510, while the nation's was 497. Each section is worth 800 points.
``Obviously, there's something wrong," said Brad MacGowan, a guidance counselor at Newton North High School. ``I can't imagine anyone saying with a straight face that anybody at the end of a three-hour-and-45-minute test wouldn't be tired. I'm tired just thinking about it."
In December MacGowan led a campaign by counselors nationwide to persuade the College Board to let students take the SAT over up to three days to reduce test fatigue.
The new SAT results are based on students' highest scores on the tests, regardless of whether they took them during their junior or senior years.
Last year, the College Board released only the national average of high school juniors on the writing portion.
Massachusetts had the second-highest participation rate in the nation -- 85 percent compared with New York State's 88 percent. The previous year, the Bay State tied with Connecticut and New Jersey for second, at 86 percent. Only five states had more than 80 percent of their college-bound seniors take the SAT.
Driscoll said the state's lower scores were ``storm clouds."
``It could be a one-year phenomenon. It could be a lot of things," he said. ``But under any circumstances, we need to consider this sobering."
But Gaston Caperton, president of the College Board, said the one-year national dip should not cause alarm and contended that it represents a decline of less than 1 percent compared with last year's scores. Massachusetts students' scores also dropped by less than 1 percent.
Only 53 percent of the class of 2006 took the test more than once, compared with 56 percent of the class of 2005. Typically, students who take the SAT a second time see a 30-point increase in their combined scores, Caperton said.
MacGowan has also asked the College Board to allow students to retake the portions of the exam on which they want to improve their scores, instead of retaking all three sections.
College Board officials said yesterday that they are considering both of MacGowan's proposals but need a few years to research their possible impact.
Roger Walker, who graduated from Southeastern Regional High School in South Easton in May, said the test length discouraged him from trying again after he received low scores the first time.
``It was just grueling and uncomfortable," Walker said.
In addition to students' complaints about the length, MacGowan and other counselors said they were concerned about the nation's low writing results.
MacGowan said he has students with A's in honors English who scored below average on the writing section. Counselors called the writing test artificial because students are allotted only 25 minutes to write an essay, leaving no time for revision.
In Massachusetts, a higher percentage of black and Hispanic students took the SAT in the class of 2006 than in the previous year, but their performance dipped slightly. Overall, their scores still lag behind their white and Asian classmates.
Among the state's schools with more than 200 students taking the SAT, Wellesley High, Boston Latin School, and Lexington High earned the highest combined scores. Many of Boston's new, small high schools fell at the bottom of the pack, with only a dozen students testing from some schools .
Globe correspondent Yuxing Zheng contributed to this report. Tracy Jan can be reached at tjan@globe.com. 