Indiana SAT scores improve, still below national average

INDIANAPOLIS -- SAT scores for the high school graduating class of 2002 in Indiana improved by one point over last year but were still below the national average, according to figures released Tuesday.\nIt marked the third straight year Indiana's cumulative score in math proficiency and the language portion of the college entrance test improved by one point. Nationally, a two-point increase in math was offset by a two-point decrease in language.\n"This isn't a celebration. It's a recognition of a continued gain, and it's also a recognition that we have more work to do, especially in preparing students better in high school for college," said Stan Jones, Indiana's commissioner for higher education.\nIndiana students averaged 503 on math and 498 on the verbal section for a cumulative score of 1001, according to figures released by the College Board, the New York-based nonprofit that owns the SAT.\nNationally, test takers averaged 516 on the math section, and 504 on the verbal section for a combined score of 1020.\nJones and Suellen Reed, the state's superintendent of public instruction, played up the positive points in the scores.\nIndiana has increased its average combined score by 28 points over the past 10 years, compared to a national increase of 19 points.\nThey also noted that scores improved this year, even though the number of students who took the test increased from 60 percent to 62 percent.\n"Usually when participation increases the scores have gone down -- that has not happened here," Reed said.\nNationally, Indiana ranked 43rd among the states and the District of Columbia -- down from 41st a year ago. However, the College Board emphasizes that SAT scores are not designed to rank states because of the wide range of student participation.\nAlthough Iowa and North Carolina traditionally rank near the top in average scores, only 5 percent of students in Iowa and 4 percent in North Dakota took the test this year.\nIndiana ranked 17th among 23 states and the District of Columbia that had at least half of their high school seniors take the test. Washington topped the list with a cumulative score of 1,054.\nThe average Indiana composite score this year in the ACT college entrance exam was 21.5, up slightly from last year.\nThat was above the national average of 20.8, but only 20 percent of high school seniors in Indiana took the ACT.