ACT Up & SAT Down

Many on the education beat puzzle over why the scores on the two leading college entrance exams differ so markedly. In a nutshell, ACT scores are up while SAT scores are down. The mystery is easily solved: the ACT is an easier test.

For example, knowing where to place a comma and how to work an algebraic word problem puts you in the upper echelon of ACT test takers. For the SAT it is a floor.

Against that backdrop, the losses and gains on the respective tests are not that earth-shaking: the ACT scores are up a point and the SAT postings went down 5 on the verbal portion of the exam and 2 on the Math. Predictably, officials at the ACT overplayed the gains while executives at the College Board, that constructs the SAT, played down the losses.

“The growth of the average ACT composite score is encouraging, particularly given the increase in the number of students taking the test,” ACT chief executive officer Richard Ferguson said. “The results suggest that academic achievement and college readiness are on the rise.” Well, not really, particularly given that the ACT’s own numbers show that 47 percent of its test takers cannot read at college level, the same percentage as the group recorded among exam entrants three years ago.

By way of contrast, Ferguson’s counterpart on the College Board, Gaston Caperton, said, “I think we tend to overemphasize one or two point fluctuations.” Caperton, the former Democratic governor of West Virginia, made this assessment when a reporter from the Bloomberg News asked if the group would downplay a two-point gain in Math scores.

As it happens, I was at another press conference three years ago at which College Board representatives, including Caperton, devoted the bulk of their presentations to heralding just such a point surge. At this year’s more downbeat affair, the usually-ebullient Caperton later admitted to me, “Our math scores are not where they should be.”

“Our [Advanced Placement] AP scores are competitive internationally but our average scores are not,” he explained. “They should be like this,” he said, holding his arm at an angle with his hand pointing towards the ceiling.”

It should be noted that the SAT has made its test easier over time as well. For example:

• For more than a decade, students have used calculators on the Math portion of the test.

• This year, the College Board dropped analogies and added an essay.

• Students got an extra hour to complete the test.

Malcolm A. Kline is the executive director of Accuracy in Academia.