Chancellor Carmen Fariña today announced the participation and performance results of New York City students on the SAT exam.
During the 2016-17 school year, all New York City high school juniors will be able to take the SAT free of charge during the school day, part of Mayor de Blasio and Chancellor Fariña’s Equity and Excellence for All agenda.
Last school year, across 91 schools, 10,410 juniors participated in the March 2016 pilot of the SAT School Day. This drove a 4.3 percentage point increase in juniors taking the test, to 52.4 percent. The first SAT School Day pilot was at 40 schools in 2015, and there was a 3.9 percentage point increase in juniors taking the test that year. In total, junior participation has increased 8.2 percentage points over just the past two years – including 12.1 percentage points among black students and 10.2 percentage points among Hispanic students – and this is the first time over 50 percent of NYC high school juniors have taken the SAT. This year’s first-ever citywide SAT School Day will build on this progress.
New York City students’ overall results on the old SAT test remained steady or decreased slightly; these are results for NYC seniors – students who started high school in Fall 2012 and took the SAT at least once during their four years of high school – and do not include any results on the new SAT test that was first instituted in March 2016. The average SAT critical reading score for NYC seniors remained steady at 446, while the average math score fell from 467 to 466, and the average writing score fell from 442 to 440. For public schools nationwide, average critical reading scores fell 2 points, average math scores fell 4 points, and average writing scores fell 3 points.
“The SAT School Day makes it a little easier for our students – no matter their background – to get on the path to college, and it is exciting to see its reach and potential even in the pilot years,” said Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña. “As we work to ensure equity and excellence for all students, we’re laser-focused not only on improving access to college readiness courses and exams, but also working together with our educators to strengthen instruction and support and improving students’ performance.”
Between 2015 and 2016, participation increased among Hispanic and black students, and while participation has increased across all groups since 2011, the gains have been largest among Hispanic and black students – 7.7 percentage points and 6.6 percentage points respectively, compared to 3.9 percentage points for Asian students and 0.8 percentage points for white students.
SAT participation for seniors also increased slightly – 45,843 NYC seniors took the old SAT at least once during their four years of high school, up from 45,533 in 2015 and 41,966 in 2011. This represents a 0.3 percentage point increase from 2015, and a 6.5 percentage point increase from 2011. Between 2015 and 2016, participation increased among Hispanic and black students, and while participation has increased across all groups since 2011, the gains have been largest among Hispanic and black students – 7.7 percentage points and 6.6 percentage points respectively, compared to 3.9 percentage points for Asian students and 0.8 percentage points for white students. With the introduction of the new SAT in March 2016 and the SAT School Day, the DOE improved its technical reporting procedures; as a result, participation and performance data for prior years has been revised.
Earlier this week, the City announced the highest-ever postsecondary enrollment and college readiness rates. 55 percent of all students in New York City’s Class of 2015 (students entering 9thgrade in Fall 2011) enrolled in a two- or four-year college, vocational program, or public service program after graduation. Among graduates, the postsecondary enrollment rate reached 77 percent. SAT School Day is a critical piece of continuing this progress, and is part of the College Access for All initiative – which also eliminates the CUNY college application fee for low-income students, and is supporting new training and funding at 100 high schools this year to build a schoolwide college and career culture. In addition, to support early college awareness and planning, by 2018-19, every middle school student will have the opportunity to visit a college campus through College Access for All.
College Access for All is one of Mayor de Blasio and Chancellor Fariña’s Equity and Excellence initiatives to ensure that, by 2026, 80 percent of students graduate high school on time and two-thirds of graduates are college-ready. Other initiatives including AP for All, Algebra for All, and Single Shepherd will promote increased college readiness and access to postsecondary options across all five boroughs.
More information on SAT participation and performance are available online at http://schools.nyc.gov/Accountability/data/TestResults/default.htm.
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