2000 SAT Results for Montgomery County (MD) Public Schools: Executive Summary

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2000 Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) Results for Montgomery County Public Schools
LONG-TERM TRENDS IN SAT PREPARATION AND PERFORMANCE
Long-term SAT trends for White and Asian seniors are up, but the trend for Hispanic seniors is down and the trend for African American seniors remains at a low plateau.	Given the continuing importance of the SAT to college admission and the increased competition for college brought about by recently expanding college enrollments, it is important to examine whether the trends in SAT performance among MCPS seniors are keeping pace with the other pervasive increases in competition for college and high-paying jobs. Figure 1 (below) shows that the trends in SAT scores for each racial/ethnic group in MCPS have not been equal. Specifically, since 1990 the SAT averages for Asian and white students have trended consistently upward while the scores for African American students remain at a lower plateau and the scores of Hispanic students have slowly declined. Figure 1: Ten-Year Trends in Average SAT Scores by Racial/Ethnic Group
In an attempt to understand what factors may account for part of these trends, we compared the levels of academic preparation attained recently by MCPS seniors with the levels a decade earlier. Previous analyses have shown that pursuing a rigorous academic program in high school by taking honors courses and math courses above the level of Algebra 2 provide students with valuable preparation for the SAT and for college. Figure 2 (below) shows that, during the past 10 years, African American and Hispanic students have not increased their participation in a rigorous academic program as much as have Asian American and White students. As a consequence, the proportion of African American and Hispanic students attaining SAT scores above the 1999 national average (1016) has not increased. Meanwhile, the participation of Asian and white students in an academically rigorous program and their attainment of higher SAT scores have both expanded. SAT participation has remained stalled for Hispanic seniors, and, while marginally more African American seniors are taking the SAT, they are not coming to the test better prepared. These trends mean that African American and Hispanic graduates remain at a continuing disadvantage in the competition for enrollment in higher education. These data suggest that further efforts are needed to expand the participation of African American and Hispanic students in rigorous math and other course-work, and to encourage their fuller participation in SAT preparation and test taking.

Figure 2
Ten-Year Changes in Academic Preparation, SAT-Taking, and SAT Proficiency Among High School Seniors in MCPS*

Mean Percent 8 or More Honors Courses
Mean Percent Above Algebra 2

Mean Percent Taking SAT
Mean Percent SAT Above National Average

* NOTE: The lighter bar represents the three-year average from 1987 to 1989; the darker bar represents the three-year average from 1997 to 1999. (Senior transcript data have not yet been compiled for the Class of 2000.) Data indicate the highest number of honors courses and highest level of math course attained in high school.

African American and Hispanic seniors are very under represented among top-scoring students on the SAT. While Figure 2 shows the percentage of students attaining SAT scores above the 1999 national average among the 1997 through 1999 data, Figure 3 (below) provides more detail about the distribution of scores throughout the entire range of the SAT scale. The large racial/ethnic group differences among means translate into very skewed differences in racial/ethnic group representation at the extremes of the SAT scale ranges. For example, in the Class of 2000 only 7 percent of the African American seniors attained SAT scores within the range of many selective colleges and universities (above 1200) whereas 41 percent of white seniors and 39 percent of Asian seniors attained SAT scores in that range. A score of 1205 corresponds to the median SAT Total score among first year entering students at the University of Maryland, College Park campus.
Academic support is needed to bring more African American and Hispanic students into rigorous programs, and to support those who are already pursuing advanced course-work. Recent studies² have shown that high achieving African American high school students tend to attain lower grades when in college than do their white counterparts who graduated from high school with the same scores. Thus, the need for academic support sustained throughout the range of school performance is important.

² Cota-Robles, Eugene H. and Gordon, Edmund W. 1999 Reaching the Top: A Report of the National Task Force on Minority High Achievement. New York:The College Board, (p.8).

Figure 3
Racial/Ethnic Group Differences in the Distribution of SAT Scores for the Class of 2000

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Last Updated on September 13, 2000

Figure 2 Ten-Year Changes in Academic Preparation, SAT-Taking, and SAT Proficiency Among High School Seniors in MCPS*
Mean Percent 8 or More Honors Courses	Mean Percent Above Algebra 2
Mean Percent Taking SAT	Mean Percent SAT Above National Average
* NOTE: The lighter bar represents the three-year average from 1987 to 1989; the darker bar represents the three-year average from 1997 to 1999. (Senior transcript data have not yet been compiled for the Class of 2000.) Data indicate the highest number of honors courses and highest level of math course attained in high school.