by Leah Schroeder ’13

On September 24, College Board released data indicating that the average national reading score on the SAT for the graduating class of 2012 decreased to 496, the lowest it has been since 1972, and that the writing score decreased to 488, the lowest it has been since the section was first tested in 2006. The average composite score of all three sections was 1498, indicating that more than fifty percent of test-takers do not achieve a 1550 or higher, the scores that College Board deems as indicating college readiness. MCPS considers the score for college-readiness to be a 1650.

Students in MCPS, on the other hand, made improvement in all three sections, while still receiving scores on the reading and writing sections that were about 20 points lower than the scores on the math section. Sherwood students also reflected this trend. Montgomery County students improved enough to attain an average composite score of 1651, fulfilling MCPS’ seventh key to college readiness: to score a 1650 or higher on the SAT. The average score achieved by Sherwood students increased 30 points to a total of 1622, which is 124 points higher than the national average but still 28 points shy of meeting the 1650 benchmark.

English teacher Gloria Condelli indicates that a low level of reading comprehension may stem from students’ willingness to accept lower grades on reading-related activities or to try and make do with Sparknotes and other websites, as they know that other assessments, especially essays, can pull them through.

“As much as [the English Department] can, we have decided to hold students more accountable for their reading because there is nothing we can do in our classrooms that builds literacy skills more than reading challenging texts. Poor reading skills show up in a myriad of ways, not just on novel tests and exams, but also in the ability to reason and the ability to write coherently,” said Condelli.

“For me, [helping students to see the importance of reading] is a big piece of why I do what I do because I think we have to reinforce the core of constantly learning, constantly thinking,” said English teacher Debbie Reier. “If you are not continuing to educate yourself, you begin to see some frightening results. And, I think we are there.”

Sherwood and MCPS also followed the national trend in that at least 50 percent of the student body did not receive scores high enough to be considered college-ready. In Sherwood’s case, only 48.6 percent of test-takers achieved a 1650 or higher. This equates to 37 percent of the graduating class, when the non-test-takers are considered.

“I think we need to continue to work towards improving student performance on overall SAT performance. It is important for each student to meet that ‘1650’ benchmark,” said Assistant Principal Kathlyn Carroll, who oversees testing related to college readiness. “We are going to continue to work with each individual student to have the repertoire to get to that point.”

To improve scores, Deborah Hiltner and Shelley Jackson, the resource teachers for the math and English departments, review the Score Report given to the school after PSAT testing to see where students are weak and to give teachers strategies for honing in on those skills and making them stronger.

Sherwood did have the tenth highest SAT participation rate in the county at 77 percent, a rate that has been attained for at least three years. Sherwood’s SAT committee strategizes ways in which to improve participation, including having counselors and Carroll meet with students to discuss testing and post-secondary goals.

“If one looks closely at the data about our system, especially as compared to others, you see that MCPS does pretty well with our increasingly diverse population.   More students than ever before are taking the SAT, students who haven’t traditionally taken it,” said Condelli. “Having said that, I will concede there is room for improvement but that can’t happen exclusively between the hours of 7:25 and 2:10. Students and parents need to ask themselves if reading plays any part in their leisure activities.”