SAT scores nationally unwaver from 2007
A record number of students took the college admissions test, of which 40% were minorities. In California, 5% more students than last year took the SAT.
A record number of students in the high school graduating class of 2008 took the SAT college admissions exam nationwide, scoring on average exactly the same as their counterparts the year before, officials said today.
Average scores for the 1,518,859 students who took all three sections of the test, including the essay, did not budge even a point, said officials with the College Board, the nonprofit that owns and administers the key college admissions test.
About 40% of those who sat for the exam were minorities, up from 33% a decade ago, but the gap between average scores for black and Mexican American students and for white and Asian American students persisted. (The College Board reports average scores by ethnicity as described by the test-taker.) Overall, white students outscored Mexican American test-takers on the reading section, 510 to 446; black students recorded an average of 438.
Asian American students topped the math scores, with an average of 564, compared with 549 for white students, 453 for Mexican American students and 429 for black students.
In California, 195,406 students took the test, up 5% from last year's figure. State Supt. of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell said this represented 48.4% of all California high school graduates. California reading and writing scores did not shift, but average math scores declined by a single point.
To see the test results, visit www.collegeboard.com/cbseniors.
Gale.holland@latimes.com
