A little while ago, in this item below, Mike MacNaughton posted a link to this freshly minted release from the Texas Education Agency, which leads with the good news: "Texas has experienced a huge increase in the number of college-bound minority students who take the SAT college admissions test." At the very bottom you'll find the bad news: In all Texas schools, SAT scores are down in math, reading and writing.
Same goes for all schools in the U.S.: 1,647,123 total students nationwide took the test this year, and in reading the average score was 497 -- a drop of three points from 2010's results.
The average math score was 514, a one-point drop; writing was 489, a two-point drop. But those numbers are still higher than the combined averages of the 166,012 Texas students who took the SAT: Reading was at 479 (down four points), math came in at 502 (down two points), writing at 465 (down seven).
Then, there are the public school scores for Texas, which were even lower, with reading at 475 (down five points), math at 500 (down two) and writing at 461, which is down seven points from last year and way below the nationwide public school average of 483.
But Robert Scott, the state's commission of education, chooses to look at the bright side: At least more kids are taking the test and trying to get into college. "There is clearly an increase in the college-going culture in this state," he says. "Whether it's elementary schools decorated with college pennants, new high-tech science and technology programs or expanding dual enrollment and Advanced Placement courses, there is a synergy in Texas that is causing more students to consider going to college."
The TEA also notes the top-five in-state schools that received those SAT scores this year, which are, in order: the University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M, Texas State University in San Marcos, Baylor and University of Texas at San Antonio. Hook. 'Em.
