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Tuesday, August 28, 1990 / University Daily Kansan
SAT test scores drop again marking third year in a row
The Associated Press
NEW YORK - Warning that reading could become a "lost art" among high school students, the College Board reported yesterday that SAT scores sank for the third consecutive averaged drops to their lowest levels in a decade.
Scores on the verbal section of the Scholastic Aptitude Test in the 1989-90 school year fell 3 points to 424 — the lowest since 1980 and equal to the lowest levels since annual averages were first compiled in 1971.
Scores on the math section averaged 476, unchanged for the fourth straight year.
The steady, four-year slide in verbal scores from a recent peak of 431 in 1986 is "disturbing but not particularly surprising," said College Board president Donald M. Stewart.
- "Students must pay less attention to video games and music videos and begin to read more." Stewart said.
Blame for the poor verbal scores rests with parents and schools. Stewart said in an interview.
"The requirement to read through homework has been reduced. Students don't read as much because they don't
know."
*Reading is in danger of becoming a lost art among too many American students, and that would be a national
Among the few bright spots in the gloomy report, women's math scores reached their best levels in 16 years, the scores of American Indians rose a combined 13 points, and women achieved a 15 year trend as the most improved ethnic group.
The SAT, taken by 1.03 million college-bound high school students, is a two-part multiple-choice exam, with each part scored on a scale of 200-800. It is sponsored by the University of Texas at Austin and Testing Services in Princeton, N.J. It is the predominant
college entrance exam in 22 states.
Scores on the ACT, the college entrance test that predominates in 20 states mainly in the Midwest and South.
The SAT has become the single most often-cited barometer of the nation's educational progress, or lack of
This year's scores and the stagnation in student achievement that they suggest will almost certainly fuel public doubts about the success of the decade-old school reform movement.
But the College Board and others caution that no single number can reasonably summarize the performance of 40 million students attending 83,000 public schools across the country.
Critics also have repeatedly accused the SAT and ACT of bias against women and minorities. The tests' makers deny those charges. But the SAT is undergoing a massive revision that ETS says should produce a fairer, more accurate gauge of college aptitude by 1993.
Among the report's other findings:
■ The higher a student's family income, the higher the average score. Test takers from 151,485 families earning $70,000 or more averaged 468 on the verbal, 527 on math and 619 on reading, with earnings less than $10,000 averaged 357 in verbal, 419 in math
**B** Women's math scores rose a point to their highest average in 16 years: 455.
American Indians scored the best year to year gains
or any ethnic group, a 4 point gain in verbal averages to
10 years old.
**Verbal scores among black students rose by 1 point to 352 and now stand 20 points higher than 1976 levels. Math averages were down a point to 385, but are still 31 points better than 1976 scores.**
Predicted teacher shortage unlikely Study finds many who left are returning to classrooms
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — A predicted teacher shortage probably will not materialize because many veterans who left the military were still enrolled.
The National Center for Education Information says more than a third, 38 percent, of current public school teachers are not part of the CES.
Nearly half, 46 percent, of new teachers hired since 1985 have had at least one break, and 18 percent of these have been without a break.
"Teaching appears to be a revolving door," the study said.
Center director Emily Ffestneriter said, "There is absolutely no question" that statistics projecting teacher shortages are not accurate. She said little attention has been paid to the "returning teacher phenomenon."
Twelve percent of those teachers who were hired in the last five years have taught before.
"All this business of teachers be miserable and leaving is not being borne out in data anywhere," she
The study analyzed the results of a 58 question survey of 3,201 current elementary and secondary school teach
ers - 2,380 public school teachers, 499 teachers who had participated in alternative teacher certification programs in Texas and New Jersey, and 352 private school teachers.
Alternative teacher certification programs certify people who did not earn a college degree in teaching
The teaching force in the United States is getting older, whiter and more female. The average age of all public school teachers is 42 years, of new teachers hired since 1985, the average age is 35 years. Ninety-two percent of all public school teachers are white and 71 percent are women.
- To become a teacher, alternative routes attract minorities more than traditional certification routes. Forty three percent of the teachers from the Texas State University department from the New Jersey alternate route are minorities.
■ Alternate route teachers are much more willing to teach in inner cities than those coming through traditional programs. A third, 33 percent, of alternate route teachers say they would be willing to teach in large inner cities.
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