SAT scores drop in Durham, Chapel Hill

CHAPEL HILL -- SAT scores dropped slightly for last year's senior classes in Durham, Chapel Hill and Hillsborough, in line with a decline across the state and nation.

The state's average composite SAT score for math and reading fell four points to 1,004, according to results released Tuesday. Nationwide, scores dropped three points to 1,017. A test-taker has the potential to score a combined 1,600 on those two sections of the exam for the college-bound.

North Carolina was tied with Indiana for the 38th highest average SAT score in the nation. North Carolina ranked 46th in 2003. Many of the states above North Carolina have much lower rates of students taking the SAT.

College board officials attribute the decline to the large number of students taking the SAT and the diversity of the population. Nearly 1.5 million students took the test, and 39 percent were minorities, the highest percentage ever, officials said.

Changes in the test from 2005, which now includes a new writing section and higher level math questions and reading comprehension questions, were also cited by school leaders as a reason for the score decline.

In Durham County's high schools, the average SAT score fell five points.

Despite the decrease, when measured by ethnic group, students showed gains in their average scores, according to a news release from Durham Public Schools.

The average score for all test-taking seniors in Durham was 983. Black students' average scores increased by eight points to 858, just short of the national average for black students, which was 862 points.

White students' average scores increased by five points to 1,120, surpassing the national average of 1,063.

Hispanic students' average scores gained six points, to 985, surpassing the national average score of 920.

Durham Public Schools reports that 10 percent more seniors took the SAT in the 2006-07 school year than in the previous year.

In the Orange County Schools district, the average SAT score was 1,040, a drop of five points from last year. Overall the score has gone up 15 points in the last five years, the district said in a statement.

"We continue to work to engage more students in higher level coursework and to provide support to ensure their success in college and beyond," Superintendent Shirley Carraway said in a statement.

The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools district continued to boast the highest average in the state. The average composite math and reading score is 1,185 there, down four points from 1,189, which was an all-time high last year.

The reading scores dropped seven points to 581. The math scores increased three points to 604.

This slight fluctuation is typical for the district, Superintendent Neil Pedersen said in a statement.

Almost 4 percent more students took the test, compared with the previous year, for a total participation rate of 96.8 percent.

Scores calculated by ethnicity continue to show gaps in the district, but the Latino and black test-takers scored higher than the state and national average for their ethnicity and race, according to information from the school district.

The average score for Asian students was 1,285. It was 1,202 for white students. Hispanic students scored an average of 1,081. African-American students in the district had an average score of 901.

In Wake, school leaders saw a second consecutive nine-point decline in average scores in reading and math, although the district's scores were still higher than the state average. In Johnston County, scores fell 11 points.

The class of 2007 was the largest and most diverse of any class taking the SAT nationwide, according to test officials. Thirty-nine percent of test-takers were minority.

(Staff writers Kinea White Epps and T. Keung Hui contributed to this report.)