For immediate release
Sept. 27, 2016
NC Students Make Gains on SAT, AP Exams
North Carolina
high school students saw performance gains last year on key measures of college
readiness – the SAT college admissions exam and on Advanced Placement tests,
according to results released today by The College Board, which administers the
national exams.
North Carolina’s
average SAT scores for 2016 high school graduates from all schools increased by
1 point each on the critical reading (502) and math (508) portions of the exam.
State gains on both parts of the test outpaced gains nationally, which showed a
3-point drop on the critical reading section (494) and a 4-point decline on the
math portion (508).
State
Superintendent June Atkinson said the latest results track with other recent
data showing that students in North Carolina’s public schools are making steady
progress, even with higher standards and expectations.
“We continue to
see improvement on multiple measures of performance and growth, including the
SAT and AP exams,” she said.
Among public
school students in North Carolina, the state’s total average scores were also
up by 1 point on each of the two portions of the exam (to 496 in critical
reading; 504 in math). By comparison, the national average score in critical
reading was 487 and in math, 494. Average scores on the writing portion of the
test declined by 5 points both for North Carolina (468) and the nation as a
whole (472).
In all, 56,468 North
Carolina students who graduated from all schools in 2016 took the SAT, compared
to 56,947 in 2015.
Because a new
version of the SAT was administered beginning in March, The College Board
excluded from its analysis of 2016 graduates the scores of 1,805 students who
took the exam for the first time after January 2016.
Year-to-year
comparisons are between graduating students who took the test no later than
January and those in the class of 2015 who also took the test no later than
January 2015. In other words, only scores on the old SAT are included in the
results. The new SAT data cannot be compared to that of previous years because
the redesigned SAT is a different assessment from the old SAT. Performance on
the new SAT will be reported for the first time in 2017.
Fewer public
school students in North Carolina are taking the exam, now that the state
requires and pays the cost for all 11th graders to take the ACT
college-readiness exam, a measure also widely used for college admissions
decisions. According to College Board data, the percentage of students
graduating in 2016 who took the SAT was 58.2 percent (all schools), down from 63.2
percent in 2015 and 67.3 percent in 2012, when the state first included the ACT
as part of its READY accountability program.
North Carolina’s
combined average critical reading and math score was 1,000 for public schools –
accounting for 88.4 percent of test takers in the state through January 2016,
compared to the combined national average score of 981 for the same period. For
all students, including those in private and home schools (11.6 percent of test
takers), North Carolina’s combined average score was 1,010, compared to 1,002
for the nation.
The state’s
participation and performance continue to increase on Advanced Placement exams,
which can help students earn transferrable college credit and save on college
costs. In addition, research shows that students who take AP classes are more
likely to persist in college and graduate in four years.
Nearly 70,000
students (69,957) took at least one AP exam in 2015-16, up from 67,451 in the
previous year, an increase of about 3.7 percent. Of those, 37,839 students
achieved a score of 3, 4 or 5 on an exam, an increase of 3.9 percent from the
year before. Students who earn a 3 or better on the exams, which are scored on
a five-point scale, can qualify for college credit, although policies vary by
institution.
The numbers of tests taken by North Carolina
students were also up by similar rates, reaching nearly 130,000 (129,538) from
about 125,000 in 2014-15. Of tests taken last year, scores of 3, 4, 5 increased
by 4.6 percent to 66,646.
State education leaders and lawmakers in recent
years have made a priority of broadening access to college-level courses for
qualified students. During the last two years, lawmakers provided funding to
pay the cost of AP exams for all students and appropriated funding for
professional development of teachers through the NC AP Partnership.
Comparative
results disaggregated by race and across years are unavailable in this year’s
report because The College Board revised its data reporting guidelines to
reflect those followed by the U.S. Department of Education. The College Board
is now counting and reporting students identified as “two-or-more races,” many
of whom were previously counted among individual racial or ethnic groups.
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