Washington's SAT Scores

An update on yesterday's post about the slight decline in SAT scores nationally (down one point in reading to 502; three in writing to 494 and to 515 in math).

According to a story in today's Seattle P-I, Washington state students who took the college entrance exam only saw their collective scores drop two points by comparison. In our state, the average scores were 526 in reading, 510 in writing and 531 in math. A detailed, state-by-state report is also available online, which allows a more in-depth look at the data for the 34,638 students who sat for the SAT. For example:

• In math, boys still outscore the girls, this time by 34 points (provided my math is correct).
• There were 31 freshmen who took the test and 493 seniors
• 67 percent of our state's testers were white; 13 percent were Asian, Asian American or Pacific Islander. Four percent were Black or African American. Three percent identified themselves as Mexican or Mexican American and 2 percent said they were Hispanic, Latino or Latin American.
• 44 percent took the PSAT as a junior and 29 percent never took the PSAT at all.
• The mean grade point average for the test-takers: 3.41.

There's a great breakdown of coursework by gender and SAT grade that's worth a closer look. Fifty-eight percent of test-takers reported taking four years of mathematics (44 percent of boys and 58 percent of girls). There's data for English, natural sciences, social sciences and history, too.

Tuesday Tidbits - Aug. 28

Each Tuesday, AWSP will try to capture some of the smaller, but still noteworthy, items making news in the K-12 world. Here's today's tidbits:

• The College Board today announced the scores for the class of 2007, the largest and most diverse class of SAT takers on record. Nearly 1.5 million students in the class of 2007 took the test and students of color comprised nearly four out of 10 test-takers. As for the scores:
  
• The average score in reading (502) declined one point from last year.
  
• The average score in mathematics and writing declined by three points each, as well, bringing the average scores to 515 and 494 respectively.
  
• Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup releases its 39th annual poll of the public's attitudes toward public schools today. You can read the full report here, which offers seven implications and lessons for leaders (politicians and educators alike). Among the highlights:
  
• For the first time since they started asking the question in 2003, 54 percent of respondents say they know "a great deal or a fair amount" about NCLB.
• Is this gain in knowledge affecting people's perceptions of schools? PDK/Gallup found that as public knowledge of NCLB grows, the public's view of NCLB is becoming less favorable.
• A new study released this week by the University of Washington's Harborview Medical Center suggests that a nationwide push to install automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in schools may not be worth the cost. The study, which was published Monday in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, suggests putting AEDs in high schools or pinpointing schools where students and staff have medical problems. According to the AP story in today's Seattle Times:

  The survey of emergency response to schools in the Seattle area over 16 years found that students suffered cardiac arrests only 12 times and a third of these children had known heart problems.
  
  Most of the cardiac arrests at schools between 1990 to 2005 involved adults — teachers, volunteers or people just walking on school property. And they occurred much more often in high schools and middle schools than elementary schools.