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School Board News Bulletin
September 1996

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Average SAT scores still rising; Illinois exceeds national average

Stewart said the average math score rose two points to 508 on the test, while the average verbal score rose one point to 505 on an 800-point scale. Compared to last year, the average verbal score of women rose one point to 503, and the math score rose two points to 492. For men, the average scores were 507 and 527 on verbal and math, respectively, up two points each. Students who take the SAT I represent more than 90 percent of new students who will enter four-year colleges this fall.

"We see encouraging signs among these students, many of whom will be college graduates in the year 2000, the start of the new millennium," Stewart said. "Compared to their predecessors, they have taken more honors courses and more pre-calculus, chemistry, physics and other academic courses, and are more computer literate. They are also more ambitious, with over half planning to go beyond the bachelor's degree."

The modest increase in SAT scores this year produced "cautious enthusiasm" for the future. Yet the most solid good news in the report is the strong gain made in recent years by minority students and the trend toward high school students taking higher-level courses to prepare for college. Or so said Anne L. Bryant, the Executive Director of the National School Boards Association (NSBA).

The college board reports that over the last ten years, scores for African-Americans rose 6 points on verbal and 11 points on math. Meanwhile Asian-Americans gained 17 points on each test. The board also reported that test takers had the highest level of study ever reported. Grade-point averages among those taking the SAT continue to rise. More than one-third of the 1996 SAT takers reported "A" grade averages, according to Gretchen W. Rigol, the College Board's executive director of Admissions and Guidance Services. This year's seniors reported an average high school grade-point average of 3.20, a high "B" on a four-point grading scaleCup from 3.07 ten years ago.

Illinois students continue to score far above the national average. Illinois verbal scores averaged 564, and math scores averaged 575. Some might attribute the state's excellent performance to the low proportion (14 percent) of Illinois students who take the SAT, in contrast to the high proportion of students who take the test nationwide (41 percent).

Yet, as the Newsbulletin reported recently, even when scores are adjusted for the proportion of students taking the exam, Illinois students score exceedingly well on the SAT. A recent Harvard study found that Illinois students ranked fifth best in the nation on the SATs, when adjusted for the percentage of students taking the test. (See "State-by-state SAT rankings deceptive: Study," Newsbulletin, May 21, 1996, p. 8.)

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School pays off

Citing figures from the National Center for Education Statistics, Riley says three-fourths of high school graduates continue their education, but less than 10 percent of dropouts enroll in a post-secondary class.

Dropout Rates in the United States: 1994 concludes:

• High school graduates who were eighth graders in 1988 and working in 1994-some less than full time-earned a median income of $8,493, compared to $6,778 for dropouts.

• In 1994, 11.5 percent of 16 to 24-year-olds were dropouts, a decline from 13.1 percent in 1984.

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Illinois ACT scores rise, test takers better prepared

The nation's ACT scores rose to 20.9 from 20.8 last year, and the results released August 15 also show:

• Scores for women rose, further narrowing the gap between men and women.

• More students are taking higher-level courses in high school, particularly women and minorities.

• Among minorities, Native Americans showed the most dramatic gains.

Illinois average scores rose to 21.2 from the 1995 level of 21.1 on a 36-point scale. Scores of Illinois graduates increased in English, Mathematics, science reasoning and reading. About 67 percent of high school graduates in Illinois took the test this year.

ACT administrators caution against ranking states based on the ACT scores. The percentage of students taking the test varies greatly among states, plus students themselves decide whether to take the ACT, and there are only minimal differences in scores among the states.

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Vouchers upheld in Ohio

The July 31 ruling opens the way for about 1,500 public school students in kindergarten through third grade to receive up to $2,250 to enroll in religious or other private schools this fall.

If the ruling is upheld, it could make Ohio the first state to allow vouchers for religious schools. The nation's only other private school voucher program, in Milwaukee, has been challenged in court to determine whether the vouchers there can be used for religious schools. That case is expected to go to trial within the next month.

Source: NSBA, School Board News, August 20, 1996.

NEWS FROM IASB

IASB resources increase

"Taking Stock: The Movement to Create Mini-Schools." This ERIC Clearinghouse report suggests that scaling down a school or subdividing it into separate programs won't automatically improve operations.

"Who Chooses? Who Loses?: Culture, institutions, and the unequal effects of school choice." The contributors to this report from Teachers College, Columbia University report the latest empirical results on choice programs nationwide.

"Your Roles and Responsibilities as a Board Member," by John Carver and Miriam Mayhew Carver is one of a series on board governance. The authors show how board members can be successful strategic leaders, willing to cherish diversity, strive for accountability, and pinpoint board positions for the good of the organization.

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Web Site of the Month: The Chicago Public Library http://cpl. lib.uic.edu/

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Board of Directors meets

Other actions taken by the Board included: extending the employment of the Executive Director through August, 1999; accepting the recommendation from the Resolutions Committee that vendors at the Annual Conference be prohibited from selling or trading name and address lists obtained at the Conference; and agreeing to oppose any retirement system legislation that would increase the unfunded liability of the fund, including the so-called 2.2 plan.

The Board also agreed to a slate of officers put forward by the Nominating Committee Report. The following slate of officers are to be placed on the ballot at the Delegate Assembly Meeting, November 23, 1996: IASB President, Jay Tovian, Villa Park; IASB Vice President, Jerry Eiffert, Mt. Zion; IASB Directors at Large: Rich Heironimus, Springfield; Saundra Hudson, Edwardsville; Renee Kosel, New Lenox; and Gerri Long, Lombard. The board nominated each for a one-year term; four Director-at-Large seats will be filled.

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1996 IASB Fall Division Meetings

RESEARCH REPORT: Facts & Figures for School Leaders

List essential skills for the 21st century

Key themes, directions and educational goals that emerged from the study were:

• Communication.
• Increased support for education.
• Ethics.
• Technology.
• Standards.
• Social and cultural understanding.

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Study documents academic abilities of homeless children

Researchers compared 102 homeless children, ages 6 to 11, from New York City public schools with a group of 178 children from the same classrooms who lived in homes. The study was conducted between 1990 and 1992 by researchers from Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Columbia University's college of physicians and surgeons.

Only 24 percent of the homeless children scored at or above grade level on a reading test, while 52 percent of the housed children read at those levels. An arithmetic test proved more manageable for the homeless group.

The homeless students' poor performance was the result of frequent school changes and having to repeat grade levels.

WORKSHOPS & MEETINGS

"Urban education at work" conference set

Several prominent speakers will be featured, including social and educational commentator Jonathan Kozol, the author of Amazing Grace.

For more information about the event, call Teri Valecruz or Terry Tabor at 800/394-2427 or FAX 202/393-2400.

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Conference to address Telecommunications Act's huge impact on local school districts

At the Thursday session, FCC Chairman Reed Hundt is scheduled to discuss ways in which rule-making by the Federal Communications Commission can help students access the Information Superhighway-and other related issues.

The NSBA conference, October 23-25 at the Dallas Convention Center, is designed to serve the needs of school leaders including school board members. For more information, call 800/950-6722 and select Option 3 to request a full brochure by mail; or fax 800/950-6722 and select Option 1, and request document 717 to have information faxed to you.

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Correction

Classified ads

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Recent mailings from IASB

August 27: 1996 annual conference School Technology Fair brochure and district exhibitor's application form, mailed to district superintendents.

IASB School Board News Bulletin
Illinois Association of School Boards