In the News
Is Our Children Learning?
Nope, they ain’t learnin’ so good — if you go by the overall trend in SAT scores, that is.
Average scores on the SAT college entrance exam (ah, memories… stressful, stressful memories) dipped slightly for the high school class of 2009, while gender, race and income gaps widened, according to figures released today by the College Board.
The average SAT score dipped from 502 last year to 501 — a SHOCKING decrease, I know — on the critical reading section of the test. Math scores stayed the same at 515, and writing fell from 494 to 493. Each section, as you may remember (or have tried to forget), has a maximum score of 800.
SAT scores were holding steady or rising most years from 1994 to 2004, but have been going down, down, down ever since. That’s likely due in part to the widening pool of test-takers. Although it is a positive sign that more students are aspiring to college, it also tends to weigh down average scores.
Another silver lining of the downward trend: I clearly don’t have to worry about this generation displacing me when I eventually reach retirement age. Sweet.
