Susan Marthens

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Source:  Oregon Department of Education Report Cards

Class of 2009 Oregon SAT:  Lowest Scores in Years
 

Scores on the widely watched college entrance exam for the Oregon class of 2009 were lower than they have been in years according to results from the College Board, which runs the test.

Writing was a problem for the 18,000 college-bound students in the class of '09 who took the SAT. They averaged 499 on a scale of 200 to 800, a 3-point drop from the previous year and the worst showing by an Oregon graduating class in the four years the SAT has included a mandatory writing section.

Math was also a problem as Oregon students' performance on the math section of the widely used college-entrance exam was the worst in a decade.

The state school board has agreed to raise the bar for academic achievement in high schools. But higher standards for high school math achievement have been delayed so that this year's incoming freshmen will be out of high school before they take effect. The Oregon Board of Education voted in June 2008 to require high school students, beginning with those now entering their sophomore year, to pass state exams in reading, math and writing in order to get a diploma − a standard now met by only one in three Oregon students. Then in December, the board decided to postpone the math requirement for two more years, saying schools don't have enough money to add additional classes and tutoring that would be necessary to get all students up to par in math.

For much of the 1980s and 1990s, Oregon had the highest SAT scores in the nation among the 21 states where at least half of graduates take the exam.

Students in Oregon's largest school district, Portland, bucked the state and national trends. Portland's average SAT score rose 20 points − a huge gain by historical standards − thanks to improvements in all three subjects.

In Oregon, the ethnic makeup of SAT-takers was largely identical in the class of 2008 and the class of 2009: 78 percent white, 9 percent Asian American, 7 percent Latino, 2 percent African American and 2 percent Native American.

Class of 2008 Oregon SAT
 

Scores on the widely watched college entrance exam fell last year to their lowest level since the late 1990s and did not rebound in the class of 2008, according to results from the College Board, which runs the test.

Nationally, average SAT scores for the class of 2008 were identical to those for the class of 2007. The national scores:  502 in reading, 515 in math, and 494 in writing.  A perfect score is 2,400; 800 points in each section (reading, math, and writing).

In Oregon, they rose one point each in math and in reading, not considered a statistically significant change. The nation's stagnant SAT performance was chalked up to more students, including a record-high number of minority students, taking the test. Minorities have historically received lower scores on the test.

In Oregon, fewer students in the class of 2008 opted for the SAT as the competing ACT exam became more popular. Statewide, 18,377 students took the SAT, down 230 from the previous year, while about 10,600 took the ACT, a one-year jump of 4,200.

For the sixth straight year, Washington students posted the highest average SAT scores among states in which more than half of eligible students took the test.  Oregon, which in previous years usually were second place, dropped to a tie for third this year, due primarily to Oregon students' poor showing on the newest section of the SAT, a writing test. New Hampshire ranked second and Massachusetts, where the average score rose by six points this year, tied Oregon.

Class of 2007 Oregon SAT
 

The second year of results from the revised SAT showed that Oregon's college-bound students continue to have trouble on the new writing section. The class of 2007 did worse on average than the 2006 graduates on all three sections of the college entrance exam: critical reading, math and writing, which requires a 25-minute essay and multiple-choice questions.

ACT
 

The ACT covers reading, English, writing, math and science. The test also asks students for their high school grades and course information. It is designed to measure whether high school graduates are ready for the academic challenge of college.  The primary difference between the ACT and the SAT is that SAT is a reasoning test, while the ACT measures performance in core subject areas.

In 25 states, ACT is the predominant college-entrance exam taken by students. In other states, including Oregon and Washington, the SAT is the primary college-entrance test, and only a small share of students take the ACT.  In Oregon, starting with the class of 2008, the number (as well as the percentage) of students taking the ACT is gaining. The ACT is popular for those students aiming for selective universities in the Midwest.

Class of 2010 ACT Test Results

Oregon students in the class of 2010 scored slightly higher on the ACT college entrance exam than last year’s students, according to data released by ACT in August of 2010. About 33 percent of graduates (11,579 students) took the exam during their high school career.

Oregon’s average score increased slightly from 21.4 in 2009 to 21.5 in 2010 while the national average declined from 21.1 in 2009 to 21.0 in 2010. Although Oregon’s average score increased for the third year in a row, just 27 percent of students who took the exam were deemed college ready in all subjects. ACT sets a benchmark minimum score in each subject-area test to indicate a 50 percent chance of scoring a B or higher in the college course focused on that same subject. Nationally, 24 percent of 2010 graduates met the College Readiness Benchmarks in all four subjects.

Susan Marthens
Principal Real Estate Broker, CRS, GRI
(503) 497-2984
Fax (503) 220-1131

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