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FOR THE RECORD: This editorial omitted a third category, writing, in the combined average SAT score. Writing was added to the test in 2006.
New Mexico students who took the test in 2012 scored an average of 529 in writing. When added to the averages of 550 in reading and 546 in math, the state’s average combined score is 1625, above the benchmark of 1550 predicting college readiness and success. The editorial incorrectly stated that New Mexico’s scores did not meet the benchmark.
The good news? A much more diverse group of students is taking college entrance exams.
The bad news? More than half of them tanked.
That’s true nationally and in New Mexico. And it does not bode well for an educated and prepared workforce to turn this economy around, much less make it sustainable.
It is a real advance that the class of 2012 was the most diverse class of SAT test-takers ever — with 45 percent of participants minorities and 28 percent not claiming English as their exclusive first language. But taking the test is just the beginning.
Getting into college based on the test score and doing well there is the finish line.
Unfortunately, just 25 percent of ACT takers nationally scored at or above the benchmarks that give them a 50-50 shot at earning a “B” or better in first-year college courses on the subject. The ACT examines student knowledge of English, math, reading and science. In New Mexico only 17 percent of students hit the benchmarks in all four subjects.
And while New Mexico outperforms national numbers on the SAT, that’s typical in states where a only small percentage of college-bound students often looking to attend prestige schools out of state take that test. Just 13 percent of New Mexico students in the class of 2012 took the SAT, compared to 75 percent who took the ACT.
And New Mexico’s higher SAT scores still didn’t meet the benchmarks predicting college readiness and success. That number is a combined score of 1550. New Mexico’s average SAT scores were 550 in reading and 546 in math — a combined score of 1096.
State education chief Hanna Skandera is correct that while increased participation is important, “the next, more vital step, is to make sure student performance on those exams show marked improvements in college and career readiness.”
The state’s new school grading system includes a component that gives credit for having students not only take the tests but perform well. These entrance exam scores show measuring that college readiness in the upper grades is important.
And doing well on college entrance exams has real-world relevancy.
This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.
