Washington SAT scores down a bit from last year

Washington high school students in the class of 2009 scored slightly lower on the SAT college entrance exam than their counterparts a year earlier, but the scores still are well above the national average.

The College Board, which runs the exam, released the results Tuesday morning.

In Washington, the average SAT score for the test's reading section was 524, down from 526 last year. For math, it was 531, down from 533 in 2008, and for writing, it was 507, down from 509. Each section has a top score of 800.

Nationally, the average SAT score dipped from 502 last year to 501 for reading. Math scores held steady at 515, and writing fell from 494 to 493.

The SAT test was taken by 36,687 students in Washington, more than half of the state's graduating class.

Washington's Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction noted that state students scored higher in reading, math and writing than in other states where at least 26 percent of eligible students took the exam.

That's significant, the office said in a news release, because generally the more students who take test, the lower the overall scores. Washington, however, has bucked that trend in recent years.

"For a state that's 42nd in school funding, it really shows that our teachers are working hard with their students to get these results," state schools Superintendent Randy Dorn said. "Our students who stay in school and work toward the goal of college have once again proved to be among the nation's best."

Nationally, the College Board said 2009 had the most diverse pool of test-takers ever. Of the 1.5 million students taking the test nationwide, 40 percent were minorities and more than one-third reported their parents never attended college. More than a quarter reported English was not their first language at home.

In Washington, 67 percent of the test-takers were white, about 13 percent of Asian or Pacific Islander descent, about 6 percent Hispanic, 4 percent Black, and 1 percent American Indian or Alaska Native, the College Board said. Dorn said participation by Blacks, Hispanics and American Indians all increased slightly this year.

As in the past, boys in Washington tested better than girls in reading, 527 to 522, and in math, 550 to 515. Girls did better in writing, averaging 513 to the boys' 499.

The highest-scoring Washington students came from families with the highest incomes and the most college education.

Washington students also did well in the rival ACT college entrance exam. In results released last week, the 12,285 Washington 12th graders who took the ACT in the 2008-09 school year averaged a composite score of 22.8, compared with the national average of 21.1, Dorn's office said. The composite score consists of four content areas - English, reading, math and science - on a scale of 1 to 36.