The average SAT score dipped for this year's high school graduates, according to results released Tuesday, even as more students nationwide are taking the college admission exam through publicly funded testing during the school day.
The class of 2019 scored an average of 531 on evidence-based reading and writing and 528 on math. Their combined 1059, out of a maximum 1600, was nine points lower than what the previous class posted. But fluctuations in results are common when the population of test-takers is also in flux.
That has been especially true for the SAT since a redesigned version of the three-hour exam was introduced in 2016. The College Board, which owns the test, has expanded its market share through contracts with states and school systems that enable students to take the SAT for free.
The ACT competes with the College Board for those contracts. Some states offer only the SAT in school, others only the ACT. Some provide no funds for testing in school, and some leave the choice up to local schools.
For generations, students took the SAT on weekends and had to pay for it themselves or obtain fee waivers. The fee this year is $49.50, or $64.50 for the option with a 50-minute essay exam.
But this much-feared ritual for college-bound students is rapidly evolving as public agencies seek to widen access to admission testing. Nearly 960,000 students in the Class of 2019 took the SAT on a school day. They represented 43% of 2.2 million overall who took the test.
For the Class of 2018, the in-school testing share was 36%, and for the Class of 2017, it was 27%.
School-day participants are more likely than others to attend high-poverty schools and come from families unfamiliar with college. Forty-five percent of school-day test-takers had parents without a college degree, according to the College Board, compared with 30% of those who took the SAT on the weekend only.
"SAT School Day gives students nationwide increased access to higher education," said Cyndie Schmeiser, a senior adviser to the College Board's chief executive. "At its core, SAT School Day strives to remove barriers for students who would not or could not test on a weekend."
Not all are certain that it's wise to cede school time for an admission test.
Mark Hatch, vice president for enrollment at Colorado College, said he worries about "an overemphasis" on test scores. "There is a frenzy out there," he said, with large numbers of students who report "anxiety or depression and are terrifically stressed out." His selective liberal-arts college is one of a growing number that do not require ACT or SAT scores. The test-optional movement has accelerated since the University of Chicago, one of the nation's most competitive, dropped its testing requirement last year.
Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia illuminate contrasting approaches to the SAT.
The District of Columbia has funded the SAT in regular and charter public schools for several years. An estimated 94% of Washington students in the Class of 2019, including those in private schools, took the test. Their average score was 975 -- 495 on the reading-writing section and 480 on math. The combined result was slightly lower than the 977 average from the year before. Washington students whose parents hold college degrees scored far higher than those whose parents do not.
Maryland does not fund statewide SAT testing. But school-day testing is available in 16 school systems, including those in Montgomery, Prince George's, Anne Arundel and Baltimore counties and in the city of Baltimore.
Those programs have fueled a sharp rise in SAT participation. About 82% of Maryland's Class of 2019, public and private, took the SAT, up from 76% the year before.
Virginia does not fund statewide SAT testing and has lower participation in the school-day movement than Maryland. About 68% of the state's graduating class took the SAT, unchanged from the previous year's share. Average scores this year were 567 in reading-writing and 551 in math.
Information for this article was contributed by Debbie Truong and Perry Stein of The Washington Post.
A Section on 09/25/2019