Maine’s SAT verbal scores at 18-year low; impact of `lost art’ reflected nationwide

An eight-point drop in verbal scores this year on Maine’s Scholastic Aptitute Tests brought scores to the lowest point since 1972 when test data started to be collected in the state.

The state’s average verbal score of 423 is the lowest in at least 18 years while the mathematics average score, 463, is the lowest in the last six years.

Nationally the average verbal score fell by three points to 424, while the average mathematics score of 476 remained unchanged for the fourth year in a row.

William Richards, associate commissioner for the Bureau of Instruction, said the drop in SAT scores points out a need to “move the educational agenda further along. It points to a need for standardization of the curriculum if this (SATs) is to be a measure of success,” Richards said.

Scholastic Aptitude Tests are taken by the majority of college-bound students in the country and are used as a key admissions benchmark by higher education institutions.

The verbal-score dip follows a national trend that experts blamed on a lack of interest in reading, which is becoming a “lost art,” said Donald Stewart, College Board president, when releasing the national SAT scores earlier this week.

“Students must pay less attention to video games and music videos and begin to read more,” Stewart said.

In Maine, Richards did not directly answer a question when asked if the national lack-of-reading trend could have contributed to Maine’s lower verbal SAT scores. Richards did say, however, that the scores may indicate a need to examine and reorganize high schools.

He said research on white males has cited television watching as a reason for the decline in reading activity and interest.

About 60 percent of Maine’s high school students took the SAT tests in 1990 compared to 40 percent of high school students nationwide.

Maine and national average SAT scores for the last five years are as follows:

1989 — Maine: mathematics 466, verbal 431; national: mathematics 476, verbal 427.

1988 — Maine: mathematics 466, verbal 430; national: mathematics 476, verbal 428.

1987 — Maine: mathematics 466, verbal 433; national: mathematics 475, verbal 430.

1986 — Maine: mathematics 466, verbal 434; national: mathematics 475, verbal 431.

1985 — Maine: mathematics 466, verbal 432; national: mathematics 475, verbal 431.

1984 — Maine: mathematics 463, verbal 429; national: mathematics 471, verbal 426.

In 1972, the first year SAT data was collected for Maine, the average verbal score was 451 and the average mathematics score was 480. The national verbal average score that year was 453 and the mathematics average score was 484.