Get ready for the doom and gloom report. SAT scores were released today, and the average of high school seniors dropped slightly in all three categories tested – reading, math, and writing.
The drops were minor (1 point in reading, and 3 points in math and writing), but you can expect the Chicken Littles who scream about every little decline to have their megaphones out. What they won’t talk about are some positives:

# Nearly 1.5 million members of the class of 2007 took the exam this past year, the largest and group on record. Minority students made up 39 percent of the total.

# Almost one-fourth of those taking the test did not use English as their first language. The 24 percent figure is up from 17 percent in 1997 and 13 percent 20 years ago.

# Fee waivers to take the test, administered by the College Board, also have grown by 31 percent in just two years.

You can twist the statistics around any which way, but I’m tempted to agree with College Board President Gaston Caperton, who said the numbers mean “an increasing number of students in this country are recognizing the importance of a college education and are taking the necessary steps to get there.”

What does this mean for interested board members and administrators? Take some advice from NSBA’s Center for Public Education (www.centerforpubliceducation.org), which notes the need for more advanced, rigorous courses (such as trigonometry and physics) that are available for all students.

“School board members should determine if rigorous courses are offered and ensure that students are on track to take these advanced classes from the time they enter high school (if not sooner),” the Center noted in its analysis of ACT scores, which were released earlier this month. “Although it is not an easy task, the payoff for preparing more students for college is tremendous.”

Glenn Cook, Editor-in-Chief