Isle SATs: Up in math,
but down in verbal

Hawaii's average on the verbal test is
22 points below the U.S. average

By staff and wire

Math scores for Hawaii's high school seniors who took the SAT rose for the third year in a row, according to numbers released today by the College Board.

Performance dropped slightly on the verbal portion.

Hawaii seniors averaged 512 on the math portion, up two points from last year, and 483 on the verbal, down two points from last year, said Greg Knudsen, Department of Education spokesman.

Math scores were a point higher than the national average, but the verbal average trailed by 22 points. A perfect score is 800 in each section.

Seniors nationwide scored an average of 511 on the math portion - up for the sixth straight year - and 505 on the verbal.

The Scholastic Assessment Test is the nation's leading college admissions test, used by 94 percent of all colleges.

The national verbal score was also 505 last year and has risen above that only four times in the last two decades. Scores were 540 and higher in the late 1960s.

Numbers released today by the College Board did not break down the scores for seniors who attend independent, parochial and public schools.

This year, 54 percent of Hawaii seniors opted to take the SAT. Nationwide, 1.1 million high school graduates took the SAT. They account for 95 percent of college freshmen this year.

Education analysts say math scores are rising because students are taking more rigorous math and science courses. More students are also taking college-level, Advanced Placement courses while in high school, the College Board said. Just over half the nation's high schools offer such classes.

The trend toward higher math scores also showed up in results released earlier this month for the American College Test, another college entrance exam.

Hawaii students who took the ACT this year also scored higher in math, at least 2.2 points above the national average. Scores slipped a bit in English, reading and science reasoning.