A tougher test cited for drop in SAT totals Average Jersey score declines by 9 points Wednesday, August 30, 2006 • BY KELLY HEYBOER • Star-Ledger Staff The nation's average SAT score took its biggest one-year tumble in three decades, as students took a new version of the test with harder math questions and a revamped reading section, the College Board announced yesterday. In New Jersey, the average SAT score fell nine points. Scores on the critical reading section dropped seven points to 496 (out of a possible 800) and math scores fell two points to 515. Nationwide, the Class of 2006 averaged 503 on the critical reading section, five points less than last year, and a 518 on the math portion, a two-point dip. Test officials downplayed the score drop. They blamed the lower scores on changes in how the 1.5 million test-takers took the new SAT, which is longer and more expensive than the previous version. "When a new test is introduced, students usually vary their test-taking behavior in a variety of ways and this affects scores," said Gaston Caperton, president of the College Board, the nonprofit group that oversees the SAT. Fewer students took the newly revised test multiple times this year to try to improve their scores, he said. That may have knocked a few points off the national average. State officials also said they were unconcerned with New Jersey's nine-point decline. "This was the first year of a new test," said Jon Zlock, a spokesman for the state Department of Education. The controversial new version of the SAT introduced last year included higher-level math and a rewritten reading section that eliminated analogy questions. The College Board also added a third section, a writing exam with multiple-choice questions and a hand-written essay on a designated topic. Nationwide, students averaged 497 (out of 800) on the new writing portion, according to the College Board. Girls averaged 11 points higher than their male classmates in writing, the first time in SAT history that girls outscored boys on any test section. In New Jersey, students averaged 496 on the writing test, close to the national average, according to the report. College Board officials found the more students wrote in their 25-minute essay, the more likely they were to get a high score. About half the students wrote about themselves, while others cited examples from history, literature or current events to answer the essay question. "We're glad to see how widely students varied in their writing style," Caperton said. Test administrators also found just 15 percent of students wrote their essays in cursive. But those students were more likely to get a high score compared to students who printed their essays. This year's score data was eagerly anticipated by SAT critics. The test has been under increased scrutiny since the College Board admitted more than 4,000 tests administered in October were scored incorrectly due to a glitch in scoring machines. Some educators also said the new version of the test-- which clocks in at three hours, 45 minutes--was too long and left students fatigued. College Board officials said their analysis of 700,000 test results showed the exam's length had no impact on how many questions students got right. However, officials at the non-profit National Center for Fair & Open Testing, known as FairTest, said the new score report shows the SAT continues to be a deeply-flawed test. "The reason kids are not taking the test multiple times is because it's a very expensive marathon that exhausts them in spirit and in pocketbook," said Bob Schaeffer, the group's public education director and one of the test's chief critics. "This adds to the College Board's credibility problem." A perfect score on the new SAT has gone from 1,600 to 2,400 and the cost has risen from $28.50 to $41.50. The new test may inspire more colleges to drop the SAT, Schaeffer said. Drew University in Madison recently made the exam optional for its applicants. Nearly 10,000 fewer students nationwide took the SAT this year, according to the College Board report. In New Jersey, 82 percent of high school seniors took the test, compared to 86 percent last year. Meanwhile, the number of students taking the ACT exam, a competing college entrance test accepted at most colleges, continues to climb as students look for an alternative to the SAT. Last year, 8 percent of New Jersey's Class of 2006 took the ACT -- a record. Evan Lazerowitz, of Franklin Lakes, took the SAT three times and the ACT twice. His high scores -- a 32 out of 36 on the ACT and a 2,080 out of 2,400 on the SAT -- were high enough to get him into Johns Hopkins University in Maryland. The Bergen County teenager dismissed criticism that the new SAT was too long and draining for the Class of 2006 to handle. "I think the test is definitely ... pretty long," said Lazerowitz, 18. "But it's definitely something we can handle." © 2006 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with permission.