NEW YORK, Sept. 26 (UPI) -- Average SAT scores have been stagnant for five years in the United States, the College Board said Thursday.
The board, a non-profit organization of schools and colleges, said only 43 percent of test-takers in the high school class of 2013 got scores of 1550 or better. The board defines that as the College and Career Readiness Benchmark, which suggests a 65 percent chance of completing the freshman year with a grade point average of B-minus or better.
The board said the percentages of minority students achieving the benchmark rose slightly, to 15.6 percent for black students and 23.5 percent for Hispanics.
The pool of students taking the SAT who are members of minorities also increased.
"While some might see stagnant scores as no news, we at the College Board consider it a call to action," College Board President David Coleman said. "We must dramatically increase the number of students in K-12 who are prepared for college and careers. Only by transforming the daily work that students do can we achieve excellence and equity. The College Board will do everything it can to make sure students have access to opportunity, including rigorous course work."
The board said students who achieve benchmark scores on the SAT are more likely to be successful in college and are more likely to have taken tough courses in high school. Critics say the SAT is not a good guide to the success of education in the United States because it serves, at best, as a rough predictor of how students will do in their first year in college.
