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But school officials say the two-point decline signifies little. Pasco students still outperform the state average.
By KENT FISCHER
© St. Petersburg Times, published August 29, 2001
LAND O'LAKES -- Scores for Pasco County's college-bound seniors slipped on the SAT exam last year, the second straight year that scores fell.
The district's average score was a 503 in verbal and a 504 in math. The combined score of 1,007 was two points lower than last year (502 verbal, 507 math) and 12 points lower than 1998-99 (509 verbal, 510 math). Pasco students outscored the average Florida senior by 10 points, but fell short of the national average score by 13 points. A perfect score is 1,600.
School officials said a point or two of movement from year-to-year isn't anything to worry about. They're more concerned with dramatic jumps in scores or several years of steady decline. Although Pasco's scores have declined two consecutive years, they're still higher than they were in 1996-97, when the average Pasco score was a 991.
"You always get fluctuations, but you have to look for sizeable differences that might signal a change in how you prepared a kid for post-secondary work," said Madeline Barbery, a supervisor in the district's research and evaluation office.
One reason why Pasco's scores have dipped slightly could be that more students are taking the SAT than ever before. Since 1998, the number of Pasco students taking the nation's most popular college entrance exam has increased more than 10 percent, from 766 students to 854 last year. Generally, the more students who take an exam, the lower the average score will be.
The College Board, the association that administers the SAT, urges parents and reporters not to use scores to compare secondary schools. The test attempts to measure the likelihood of success in college that a student might achieve. The test is not designed to evaluate school quality, although some educators do use the scores to help them pinpoint curriculum weaknesses.
Barbery said the district needs to dig deeper into its math scores, which marked its third straight year of decline.
"We should probably keep an eye on that because it should be coming back up," she said.
- Kent Fischer covers education in Pasco County. He can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6241 or toll free at (800) 333-7505, ext. 6241. His e-mail address is