SAT scores jump in MCPS; outside analyst calls for investigation

Lisa Gartner reports in today's DC Examiner that the sudden jump in SAT scores in MCPS might be because some students were steered away from taking the SAT in the most recent reporting period.

From the article:

SAT scores jump in Montgomery, D.C.
By: Lisa Gartner
Examiner Staff Writer
September 13, 2010

'Mind-boggling' scores for Md. county close in on rival Fairfax

SAT scores soared in the District of Columbia and Montgomery County last year, while Fairfax County students' scores -- the highest in the area — flatlined.

"We expect all of our students to challenge themselves with rigorous classes regardless of their race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status," Deputy Superintendent Frieda K. Lacey said. "They are showing us that they can meet and well exceed those expectations."

[...]

Still, participation dropped in Montgomery, particularly among blacks and Hispanics, with 10 percent fewer students in both groups taking the test.

Educational analysts say that drop could have propped up the results and that Montgomery school officials are "not telling the truth."

"When you reduce your test-taking population, scores will go up because only the cream of the crop are taking it," said Robert Schaeffer, public education director of the National Center for Fair and Open Testing in Cambridge, Mass. "But that might not be a better thing -- that may mean fewer students are thinking about college."

Schaeffer said a 38-point spike in one year is "mind-boggling" and "merits an investigation."

"It may be that low-scoring students were dissuaded from taking the test," he said. The percentage of county students taking the SAT dropped from 78.0 percent in 2009 to 71.4 percent.

Tofig attributed the participation drop to more students taking the ACT instead. But compared with last year, just 4.7 percent more African-American students and 3.2 more Hispanic students took only the ACT -- explaining less than half of the drop.