<bt>Scores for the 2005 Scholastic Achievement Tests (SATs) released by the College Board show that Arlington continues to score higher than the average score for the state and the nation.
Arlington's average combined score of 1085, the same as in 2004, is higher than in any other year since a recentered scoring scale was introduced in 1992. Compared to last year, the average for Arlington students on the verbal portion of the tests decreased by two points, from 543 to 541, and the math average increased by two points, from 542 to 544.
The Arlington 2005 average for the verbal portion of the test was 33 points higher than the national average and 25 points higher than Virginia’s average. The mathematics average exceeded the national average by 24 points and the Virginia average by 30 points.
THE ETHNIC GROUP RESULTS below are based on the ethnicity identified by the student at the time of testing. Not only might this be different from the ethnicity designated to the student in Arlington’s student information system, but students may also choose to leave it blank. The number of students not marking anything on their SAT test has decreased in recent years. The number of seniors either leaving ethnicity blank or selecting “other” dropped from 38 percent in 2003 to 27 percent in 2004. In 2005 the percent of students not marking ethnicity decreased further to 15 percent. This still means that nearly one in six Arlington students is not included in the results by ethnic group. Therefore, caution should be exercised in reviewing the results by ethnic group as presented.
THIS YEAR, Arlington’s average scores for white students surpassed the Virginia and national averages. Hispanic students scored higher than the national average on both verbal and math SATs, but were lower than the state average. Averages for black students surpassed the national and state averages in math, but the verbal average was below state and national averages.
While the number of students tested in Arlington rose by 6 percent overall, participation by students identifying themselves as white increased by 37 percent, while participation by Hispanic students increased by 44 percent. At the same time, participation by black students declined by 13 percent. Asian participation rates declined by 4 percent.
The largest group tested in Arlington was white students. The 2005 average verbal score for white students (605) increased by 13 points compared to last year, and the average math score (593) increased by 10 points.
Scores for Asian students were almost the same on the verbal section compared to 2004 (497, up from 496). On the math section, the average improved by six points over the previous year.
The verbal average for black students has dropped by 19 points since last year, from 452 to 431. The math average for black students declined by six points, from 450 to 444.
The average verbal score for Hispanic students increased by two points, from 457 to 459. The average math score for Hispanic students increased by one point to 471 from the previous year.
Both male and female students in Arlington Public Schools exceeded state and national gender group averages. Averages for females increased by six points on the verbal and 10 points on the math test compared with last year. For males, the verbal average dropped nine points. The math score dropped by one point from the previous year.