Last year's graduating class of the Montgomery County Public Schools had the highest percentage of students (80 percent) ever taking the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT)-- including a 13-percent increase among African American students -- and produced the highest mathematics score (557) in 27 years, including the best results for both boys and girls.

But the verbal score, which has moved up and down by a few points with little consistency over the past three decades, declined by four points (536) and prompted an overall decline of three points for a combined average score of 1093. Nonetheless, the overall result is the second highest score ever produced by the school system.

The gap by race and ethnicity widened largely as a result of the decline in verbal scores, and new information suggests a greater impact on student performance by poverty and language development than previously realized.

Average scores among African American students declined by seven points to 914, and the average scores among Hispanic students declined by 11 points to 962. Average scores for Asian American students declined by eight points to 1123. Average scores among white students who constitute nearly 56 percent of all students taking the test increased three points to 1152.

Overall, the new results remain consistent with the incremental changes in SAT scores that have occurred on a systemwide basis since 1990, and the decline of three points in the systemwide average is not statistically significant.

"Given the rapid demographic change in the school system over the past 10 years, coupled with an increase in the percentage of students taking the test, it is remarkable that the systemwide average scores have remained somewhat constant," said Dr. Jerry D. Weast, superintendent of schools, in a report to the Board of Education.

"Of more importance is the continued increase in the student participation rate and the opportunity students have taken to prepare for entering college, including a 13-percent increase in the participation rate among African American students," said Dr. Weast.

A new analysis of the results suggests that the increasing impact of poverty on systemwide student performance may be greater than previously realized. The analysis shows a difference of 190 points on the SAT between students who had ever participated in the Free and Reduced-Price Meals System (FARMS) and those who had not. The percentage of students who have ever been in FARMS reached 33 percent systemwide last year.

The report found a similar impact related to English language learners. The analysis showed that students who had ever received English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) services scored an average of 136 points lower than students who had not been in the program. Montgomery County has the largest enrollment of students in ESOL of any school district in Maryland (8,225 students last year), representing about half of all students enrolled in the program statewide. One factor causing the relatively low verbal scores systemwide, compared with the math results, may be the impact of language development.

The report noted that students in ESOL and FARMs collectively represent the least prepared young people to take the SAT (based on an analysis of course enrollment) and reflect a significant impact on schools especially since the number of such students is increasing and concentrating disproportionately among several schools within specific areas of the county.

The FARMS and ESOL students also are predominantly African American and Hispanic, and the report suggests that this factor accounts in part for the lower performance rate on average in comparison with Asian and white students.

"The analysis highlights the importance of initiatives under way this year that have targeted specific support for schools that are heavily impacted by poverty," Dr. Weast said.

These initiatives include providing enhanced professional development for teachers and principals on effective instructional strategies; greater resources for improved reading, writing, and mathematics instruction; and a stronger focus on the success of students in the earliest grades.

The superintendent said the problem areas identified with the SAT results are consistent with the high failure rate on the final exam among ninth graders in the Algebra 1 program, the continuing need for remediation among many students entering Montgomery College, the disparity in student performance and enrollment in higher level courses by race and ethnicity, the development of important academic skills prior to high school, and the link between course instruction and exam content.

"These issues are among the compelling factors prompting the comprehensive educational strategies initiated this year," Dr. Weast said.

The new SAT results remain significantly higher than the averages nationally (1019) and statewide (1016) and reflect some of the highest average scores among large school systems in the United States. Many individual high schools performed at a notably high rate compared with schools nationally, and several achieved significant performance gains over the last four years.

The higher results in mathematics are particularly noteworthy, given the continuing focus on the math program. Male students last year produced the highest average math score (574) since 1973, and female students for the third consecutive year maintained the highest average math score (541) achieved over the same time period.

"Clearly, the strength of the instructional program is well represented by these results," Dr. Weast said.

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Note: The attached files below contain PDF files of the superintendent's statement to the Board of Education (@12K) and the report on the 2000 SAT results (@1,132K).