ATLANTA — Average statewide scores in 2008 on the SAT rose in four of the eight Southern Regional Education Board states where more than 50 percent of graduating seniors take the college admission test.
Average statewide scores on the combined math and verbal sections of the SAT rose in Delaware, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, according to the New Jersey-based College Board, which developed the SAT.
Three SREB states — Georgia, Maryland and Texas — saw their statewide average scores on math and verbal sections of the test decline, and one SREB state — Florida — saw its average score hold steady.
"It’s encouraging that some of our states continue to make progress on average SAT scores," said Joan Lord, SREB’s vice president for education policies. "States need to work hard to raise scores and to close gaps in achievement between groups of students. States also need to ensure more students are well-prepared for college-level work and career training when they graduate from high school."
One SREB state — Virginia — beat the national average on the math and verbal sections. While Georgia and South Carolina continue to have some of the nation’s lowest scores on the SAT, more students in those states also are taking the ACT college admission test. Long-term trends are up in most other SREB states where students predominantly take the SAT.
Overall SAT scores — which include math, verbal and the newer writing test — were up in five SREB states: Delaware, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. Maryland’s average overall score stayed the same from 2007.
More students from racial/ethnic minority groups are taking the SAT, according to the College Board, a promising sign that more students from traditionally undereducated groups in SREB states are interested in postsecondary education. But major gaps between average scores for white students and their black and Hispanic peers remained and need to be addressed further. Black students nationally and in SREB states have seen their average scores increase only slightly in recent years, which means gaps are not closing fast enough.
The national average score remained the same at 1017 for reading and math only. The writing portion of the test often is scored separately.
The eight SREB states that mainly use the SAT include Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia.
If you have questions about your state’s SAT results or need analysis, please contact SREB Communications.
SREB, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization based in Atlanta, Georgia, advises state education leaders on ways to improve education. SREB was created in 1948 by Southern governors and legislatures to help leaders in education and government work cooperatively to advance education and improve the social and economic life of the region. SREB has 16 member states: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. Each is represented by its governor and four gubernatorial appointees.
