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Isle SAT scores Hawaii high school students' math and verbal scores on the SAT increased this year to the highest level since at least the mid-1980s.
best since ’80s
Both math and verbal scores
are up six points over
the previous yearBy Crystal Kua
Star-BulletinThe math score -- 519 -- was up six points from last year. It continues to outpace the national score, which increased three points to 514.
Hawaii's verbal score also rose six points, to 488. State test scores have traditionally trailed the national results, and that is the case again this year: The U.S. average is 505.
But gains in recent years in the college-entrance exam by island seniors indicate that Hawaii is poised to catch up in coming years.
"We will really close that gap," said Selvin Chin-Chance, a testing expert with the Hawaii Department of Education.
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He notes that since 1995, Hawaii's verbal score has climbed five points, while the national score, following a one-point gain in 1996, has remained unchanged for five years.
The College Board attributes that stabilization to growing numbers of foreign-born students and students whose parents don't speak English as a first language concentrating on English language skills.
Results of the College Board's 2000 Scholastic Assessment Test -- better known as the SAT -- were released today. The three-hour exam or the rival ACT entrance exam is required for undergraduate admission to most of the nation's 3,500 four-year colleges and universities.
A greater percentage of college-bound students in Hawaii took the test than nationally -- 53 percent vs. 44 percent. But despite the fact that more are taking the test, which traditionally results in scores declining, Hawaii's scores have increased in the past several years.
The state is apparently doing a better job in preparing graduates for these exams, Chin-Chance said, and he predicts that the pace of the gains could accelerate as the public school system focuses on rigorous academic standards.
Meanwhile, students in Hawaii's private schools are doing as well or better than their counterparts across the country.The 1,214 test-takers in Hawaii's parochial schools had an average verbal score of 528 and math score of 553; the national verbal score was 529 and math 523.
The 1,320 students at other independent schools in Hawaii who took the test averaged 549 on verbal and 592 on math.
The average scores for all the 4,595 Hawaii public school students who took the test trail the national public school scores. Hawaii scored 461 on verbal and 491 on math; the national verbal score was 501 and math 510. But the results over time for Hawaii show greater gains than the U.S. average, Chin-Chance said.
The math and verbal sections are each scored on a scale of 200 to 800 on each section, and the scoring system sets 500 points as the average. For decades, the system was based on results from 10,000 test takers who were mostly boys in private schools. In 1995, SAT scoring was "re-centered" to reflect results from more diverse students. Averages for previous years were adjusted to reflect this, too.
The $24 test is administered by the Educational Testing Service in Princeton, N.J. The questions are mostly multiple-choice, and calculators are permitted.
Nationally, the test company attributed the increase in math scores to today's college-bound high school students taking more math and science and nursing higher ambitions.
The average math score on the college entrance exam -- 514 -- is up 3 points from last year. The last time scores were higher was 31 years ago, when the average was 517; it dipped as low as 492 in 1980 and 1981.
"Over the last decade, male and female students from all ethnic backgrounds have been taking more pre-calculus, calculus and physics. These are some of the most rigorous courses available and help students develop excellent math skills," said Gaston Caperton, president of the College Board. "The SAT math scores of students who take these courses are well above the national average."
The Associated Press contributed to this story.