SAT SCORES DROP IN NY! (Guess not enough kids go to Kweller Prep)

Average math and reading scores on the SAT test declined slightly this year, and New York State was no exception.

The State Education Department announced today that the average score for critical reading (formerly known as the verbal section) fell to 491 from 493, and the score for math dropped to 505 from 510. Nationally, the reading score dipped to 502 from 503, and math to 515 from 518, the College Board announced.

However, the state also pointed out that more New York students than ever took the SAT this year: 157,591, or 89 percent of graduating seniors, compared with 88 percent in 2006. There were substantial increases in the number of black and Hispanic students taking both the SAT and the PSAT, which is taken by high school sophomores and juniors. New York has the second highest percentage of seniors taking the test in the country, after Maine, which pays for its seniors to take the exams.

In addition, New York “leads the nation in the percentage of high school students taking Advanced Placement tests and scoring 3 or better, which indicates mastery,” according to the state’s Education Department, and the number of black and Hispanic students taking A.P. exams has increased as well.