Indiana, national SAT score average drops this year

Indiana’s average SAT score dropped this year, following a trend seen nationwide in part due to a widening pool of SAT test-takers.

Although the reading composite score remained unchanged, Indiana’s mathematics and writing score dropped from 508 to 507 and from 481 to 480 out of 800 points, respectively.

This drop comes after former Indiana Department of Education Superintendent Dr. Suellen Reed said in a Sept. 4, 2008, press release that the Department of Education would cover the cost of PSAT exams in the hopes that more students would take the exam to adequately prepare for the SAT.

“By removing preparatory exam fees from the equation,

Indiana has eliminated another obstacle to preparing Hoosier students for college success,” Reed said.

Indiana is not the only state that has experienced a drop in SAT scores. The national average scores for reading and writing in 2008 dropped from 502 to 501 and 494 to 493, respectively. The math score remained stagnant at 515, according to the College Board’s annual profile reports.

Educators attribute this drop to the widening pool of SAT test takers. In 2008, 1,518,859 students took the SAT; this number increased by more than 10,000 in 2009, according to the College Board.

In a press release issued by the College Board, surveys showed that the 2009 class had the most college-bound students taking the SAT in the history of the exam.
The SAT is issued to more than 1.5 million students in 6,000 test centers and in more than 170 countries, according to the College Board.

Despite the drop in average SAT scores, some high schools scored higher than both the state and national average.

Bloomington High School North had mean scores of 557, 558 and 543 in reading, mathematics and writing, respectively, according to the College Board’s summary of individual high school SAT scores.

Bloomington High School South also scored above Indiana’s mean SAT score with averages of 539, 545 and 517 in reading, math and writing, respectively.
Carmel High School in Carmel, Ind., had mean scores of 550, 576 and 546 in reading, mathematics and writing, respectively.

Stephanie Payne, a counselor at Carmel High School attributed this to a rigorous academic curriculum that is expected of Carmel students.

“We are a community of higher education,” Payne said. “We expect higher education from our students as well.”

About 70 percent of Carmel students take the SAT; many of them also take SAT prep courses offered by Carmel to better prepare for the SAT, Payne said.

There are fall and spring prep courses that meet twice a week for three hours at a time. One night discusses the math portion of the SAT, while the other focuses on the reading portion, Payne said.

“The prep course helps make kids familiar with what each section asks for,” Payne said. “You don’t have to waste time reading the directions.”