Students fail to make the grade in SAT exam

By Alice Keesing
Advertiser Education Writer

Hawai'i public school students in the class of 2001 made slight gains on verbal scores but posted a drop on math — and still remain far below the national average on the College Board SAT exam released today.

Scores on the college entrance exam show the state's public school students trailing 22 points behind the national average for other public schools on math, and 39 points on verbal skills.

The SAT scores also continue to show a gap between public and private schools in this state. The independent and religious schools in Hawai'i exceeded the national average in math and verbal skills.

Even though Hawai'i's public school students trail the national average in verbal scores, they are slowly gaining ground. In the last four years they have improved four points, while the national average for public schools has remained the same.

"The continual gain in verbal scores is encouraging," said schools chief Paul LeMahieu. "We cannot be satisfied, though, until we narrow the gap with the national average in both verbal and math scores. Our current focus on standards will help us move in that direction."

Board of Education Chairman Herb Watanabe also expressed hope that Hawai'i's reading scores may be turning around.

"I'm hopeful this is a good indication that the efforts being made by the teachers is paying off," he said. "Reading is the key. If you can't read, you can't compute. If you can't read, you can't do science."

The Department of Education has launched a reading initiative in elementary schools, which is showing promising signs of improving test scores in the early grades.

However, Watanabe said the public schools' lackluster results are still a matter of concern.

"The gap (between public and private schools) does concern me," he said. "These are the same kids who live in the same society. Is it because we have a greater diversity compared to the private schools where they have a select group? I don't know."

The difference in scores between public and private schools could be explained by the aim of the schools, according to DOE spokesman Greg Knudsen.

"(Private) schools are specifically college prep, where ours are of much wider range," he said.

The SAT "is not a measure of what a student has learned in high school, but a predictor of how well they will do in college," he said.

Knudsen said Hawai'i's scores also could be lower because more students in Hawai'i take the test than they do in other states. Fifty-two percent of Hawai'i's class of 2001 took the SAT, compared to 45 percent nationally. State participation rates varied from 4 percent to 82 percent.

"The College Board stresses that any kind of ranking between schools, districts and states is not valid because there are too many factors beyond the schools' control, amongst which is the number of students who take the test," Knudsen said.

The SAT is a three-hour test, primarily multiple-choice, that measures verbal and mathematical reasoning abilities. Either it, or the rival ACT entrance exam, is required for undergraduate admission to most four-year colleges and universities.

ACT scores released earlier this month showed Hawai'i students continuing to make gains and tying for 11th best in the nation.

The College Board SAT is sometimes confused with the Stanford Achievement Test given every year to grade-school children.

You can reach Alice Keesing at akeesing@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8014.