State SAT scores improve

INDIANAPOLIS -- SAT scores for Indiana's high school class of 2004 improved by three points over last year but were still below the national average, according to figures released Tuesday.\nIndiana students improved by one point to 501 on the verbal section and by two points to 506 in math for a cumulative score of 1,007, according to the College Board, the New York-based nonprofit that runs the SAT.\nThe nationwide average was 508 on verbal, up one point from last year, and 518 on math, down one point, for a cumulative score of 1,026 -- the same as last year.\nThe math and verbal sections of the SAT are each graded on a 200- to 800-point scale, with a perfect cumulative score of 1,600.\nSuellen Reed, Indiana's state schools superintendent, said she was encouraged by the continued improvement in the state's average score, which has been at 1,000 or better for the past four years.\n"It's a slow, steady, sustained growth," Reed said Tuesday.\nReed pointed out those students who take more rigorous classes in school see better results on the SAT.\n"We still have a long way to go," she said.\nBecause a high percentage of students in Indiana take the SAT -- 64 percent of graduating seniors -- small changes are statistically significant, said Wayne Camara, vice president of research and development for the College Board. Nationwide, 48 percent of high school graduates took the SAT.\nCamara said it was good that Indiana gained two points in math while the rest of the country lost one on that portion.\n"Even a point change is meaningful," Camara said. "It does show some reason for optimism."\nOver the last 10 years, Indiana's cumulative scores have increased 26 points -- 13 in each section -- from 981 to 1,007.\n"We've continued the trend upward," said Mark Shoup, a spokesman for the Indiana State Teachers Association.\nNationally over the last 10 years, math scores increased by 14 points and verbal scores increased by nine.\nMore than 41,000 Indiana students took the SAT this year while some 13,000 students, or about 20 percent of the graduating seniors, took the ACT.\nThe average score for Indiana students in 2004 on the 36-point ACT scale was 21.6, the same as last year. Indiana's average score on the ACT has exceeded the national score -- 20.9 this year -- for more than a decade.