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Mass. SAT scores high and still rising

College-bound seniors in Massachusetts scored an average of 518 on the verbal exam and 523 on the math exam, with 85 percent participating. Nationwide, with just 48 percent of students participating, students scored an average of 508 on the verbal and 518 on math.

Nationally, only Connecticut and New York had a participation rate of 85 percent or higher, and the average scores in those states were lower than in Massachusetts.

According to the DOE, the state's 2004 average represents a significant jump from 10 years ago, when just 76 percent of students participated, scoring an average of 502 on the verbal and 500 on the math exam. This year's results also show a small improvement over just last year in Massachusetts, when 82 percent of students participated, scoring an average of 516 on the verbal exam and 522 on the math.

"Massachusetts students, teachers and administrators should be congratulated for achieving these results," said MTA President Catherine A. Boudreau. "Our students do an excellent job by many indicators, including college attendance rates and scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, as well as on the SAT."

Boudreau said that increased funding under the Education Reform Act of 1993 and the adoption of state standards in seven subject areas both have played a critical role in the growing success of our schools over the past decade.

However, Boudreau joined the DOE in noting that the achievement gap remains too wide.

In Massachusetts, black students averaged 428 on the verbal and 424 on the math, Hispanics averaged 443 on the verbal and 445 on the math, Asians averaged 495 on the verbal and 567 on the math, and white students averaged 526 on the verbal and 528 on the math.

"We cannot sit back and think our jobs are done until this gap has been obliterated," Education Commissioner David Driscoll said in a press release.

Boudreau added that funding cuts in recent years have made it more difficult for schools to attack the achievement gap in effective ways.

"The recent report by Judge Margot Botsford in the Hancock school funding case made it very clear that much more needs to be done, especially in our lower-income urban and rural districts," said Boudreau. "The judge found that funding in the targeted districts was not adequate to ensure that all children can succeed in our schools. We hope that the Supreme Judicial Court will affirm those findings and require the Legislature and governor to allocate the funds needed to give all students a fair chance."