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As critics argue that scores should be de-emphasized, results remain a key tool in college admissions.
By STEPHEN HEGARTY
© St. Petersburg Times, published August 29, 2001
College presidents in Florida and around the nation might be arguing for the de-emphasis on SAT scores, but more students than ever are taking the college admissions test.
In Florida, 69,383 students took the SAT this year, up a couple of thousand from the previous year. The statewide composite score slipped by one point to 997, still below the national average.
Nationally, 1.3-million students took the SAT -- representing 45 percent of the graduating high school seniors. Scores nationally increased by one point to 1,020.
Locally, scores were mixed. Scores in Pinellas County jumped by eight points to 1,038 -- well above both the state and national averages. But that jump essentially brought Pinellas back to where it was in 1998.
Hillsborough's scores dropped by six points to 1,005, maintaining a steady decline since 1998. Hernando saw a four-point drop, and Pasco saw a two-point drop.
Amid all the minor ups and downs of SAT scores, the test remains a key tool in college admissions despite all the talk about its shortcomings.
"That controversy is out there, but it certainly hasn't reduced its importance yet," said John Barnhill, director of admissions for Florida State University.
The long-running debate over the use of the SAT took on some urgency recently when the president of the University of California called for an end to the use of SATs in undergraduate admissions. Also, weeks ago Florida's university presidents discussed their discomfort with the over-reliance on the test.
Still in Florida, and much of the nation, SAT scores stand as the common currency by which we measure the quality of colleges and students who want to attend those colleges.
In his annual press conference announcing this year's scores, College Board president Gaston Caperton applauded the record numbers of minority students taking the test and the large numbers of test takers who would be the first in their families to attend college.
Caperton acknowledged that large gaps remain between scores of minority and non-minority students, and responded to criticisms of test bias.
"Tests are not the problem," Caperton said. "Students are not the problem. The problem is the unfair and unequal education system in America."
Critics of the test remained unconvinced.
"The year-to-year changes in scores are not the big issue; the big issue is why are we still using this test?" said Bob Schaeffer of the National Center for Fair and Open Testing.
In Florida, even if college admissions offices such as Barnhill's at FSU are becoming more sophisticated and are looking at several factors to judge students, impressive SAT or ACT test scores are still as good as gold for students. Or at least they are worth a few thousand dollars.
Under Florida's Bright Futures program, a student with a B+
grade-point average could get full tuition and fees paid if he or she scored 1,270 or better on the SAT.
"So long as it's used as a cutoff like that, it's important," Barnhill said.
At FSU last year, the average SAT score for an incoming freshman was 1,200. At the University of South Florida, last year's average incoming freshman had a 1,100 SAT score. And at the University of Florida this year, the average SAT score is nearly 1,300.
Florida tends to score below the national average each year, but Florida also has more college-bound seniors taking the test. More than 58 percent of Florida's graduating seniors took the SAT, compared with 45 percent nationally. Typically, scores go down the more students take it. At the extreme, Mississippi posted some impressive scores this year (a 1,117 composite score), but only 4 percent of the state's seniors took the SAT.
Education Secretary Jim Horne said that while it is important for Florida's universities to have flexibility in admissions, he and the governor remain "committed to a standardized test to verify that a student is academically prepared."