New Version of SAT Brings Lower Scores in U.S., California

Leaders of the College Board, the New York nonprofit that owns the test, said the decrease was partly due to some students choosing to take the high-stakes exam just once instead of twice or more. It also said fatigue was not a factor, although many students have complained about the length of the test, which now lasts 3 hours and 45 minutes, without breaks.

Critics said the size of the decline -- seven points on average for the combined math and critical reading sections -- raises new questions about the SAT less than a year after controversy erupted over the disclosure of scoring errors on the 2005 exam.

Students planning to enter college this fall averaged 503, down five points, in critical reading, and 518, down two points, in math. The combined average score of 1,021 on the two sections was the biggest year-to-year decline since 1975.

On the new writing section, which included a hand-written essay, students averaged 497, with females scoring 11 points higher than males. That result, the first time in 35 years that females outscored males on a section of the SAT, helped narrow the test's long-running gender gap from 42 points in 2005 to 26 points this year, officials said.

In California, more than 190,000 college-bound seniors took the exam, an increase of about 3% from 2005. They beat the national average on the writing section with an average score of 501.

But the state's scores in critical reading and math slipped below last year's. In reading, students posted an average score of 501, down three points from 2005 and two points below the national average.

Their 518 in math was down four points from last year and matched that of students nationwide. The College Board posts national and state-by-state scores on its website, www.collegeboard.com.

Jack O'Connell, the state's superintendent of public instruction, applauded California students' performance on the new writing section, while noting the dip in other scores.

O'Connell also praised other data showing that more African American, Latino and other underrepresented minority students in California had taken the SAT in 2006 than ever, and that more of the state's students were taking tougher levels of math and English courses.