Student test scores may signal end of long slide

For the first time in 19 years, both the verbal and mathematics scores for college-bound seniors taking the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) have risen over the previous year.

The increase in 1981-82 scores over 1980-81 scores were small - two points on the verbal side, one point on the math side. College Board president George Hanford cautioned that it is still too early to tell if the reversal is a trend. But the news is welcome, and educators say the score improvements are consistent with trends reported on the state and local level in other standardized tests.