In student test scores, a wider gap

"We know there's virtually no access to coaching and testing in some of those minority communities," says William Hiss, an administrative vice president at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. "On the other hand, I know upscale communities are just pouring the gas in the carburetor to improve student achievement as measured by both grades and testing."

These differences, analysts say, are showing up in the SAT scores.

Among African-Americans, for instance, verbal SAT scores rose 6 points and math scores jumped 7 points in the past 10 years. But white students' scores rose 11 points for verbal and 18 points for math during the same period, widening an already-existing gap.

"The College Board congratulates themselves for the achievement gap narrowing between women and men," says Mr. Basili. "Why don't they note the performance gap is widening between whites and ethnic minorities? It's the wrong headline."

College Board officials duly note that a gap exists - and they agree with critics that less progress was made toward educational equity during the 1990s than many had believed. "These differences [in achievement] are a powerful illustration of a persistent social problem in our country: inequitable access to high-quality education," said Gaston Caperton, the College Board's president, in a prepared statement.

The SAT has limits as a gauge of social and educational progress. It includes only students who choose to take the test - not all students. In some states where verbal and math scores soared over the past decade, very few students took the test, distorting a state's performance.

Some critics also say the SAT is biased against minorities and women. But even the SAT's fiercest opponents say the growing achievement gap may have a silver lining.

"It could simply be that greater percentages of African-American and Latino students are taking the test, and so more 'C' students might be taking it," says Robert Schaeffer, a testing expert at FairTest in Cambridge, Mass. "That may lower the average score. But it may not be a bad thing if more kids are thinking about college."

Despite the recent foam and fury concerning the SAT - over whether it is a valid indicator of student readiness for college - many states have seen their students' SAT scores improve.

North Carolina's college-bound high school seniors saw their average verbal SAT scores rise 15 points and math scores leap 25 points during the past decade. It was the biggest overall improvement in the US among the 23 states where half or more graduates had taken the test.

Some attribute the improvement to the fact that, for about five years now, North Carolina has been paying bonuses to teachers whose students score higher on statewide tests - a tactic that seems to carry over into SAT scores.

But to Jo Dover, that big improvement is linked to something else. For three of the past four years, she was on a squad of consultants assigned to help turn failing schools around.

"It's really been due to the concentration we've given to reading, writing and math - going back to basics," she says. "That's what did it."

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