Published: August 26, 2008 11:09 pm         

Vigo SAT scores drop 17 points

Overall school district score for 2007-08 is 1465

TERRE HAUTE — Vigo County School Corp. 2007-08 SAT scores dropped a total of 17 points in three areas — math, verbal/critical reading and writing.

Math scores dropped 10 points, to 492 this year from 502 last year; verbal/critical reading dropped six points, to 495 from 501; and writing dropped one point, to 478 from 479.

The overall school district score for 2007-08 is 1465. The state dropped two points overall, with a total score of 1485 for 2007-08.

Nationally, average scores remained unchanged across the board in math (515), reading (502) and writing (494) for a combined score of 1511.

“We need to focus on getting students into more rigorous courses,” said Karen Goeller, school district deputy superintendent. A total of 545 Vigo County School Corp. students took the test.

Indiana has started requiring students to take the more rigorous Core 40 curriculum as a graduation requirement, beginning with freshmen who entered high school in the fall of 2007.

Vigo County SAT scores have some bright spots as well.

n Both Terre Haute North and South Vigo high schools scored above the state average in verbal/critical reading (North, 500; South, 501; state, 496).

• Both North and South are above the state average in writing (North, 482; South, 482; state, 481).

• South’s overall score of 1491 was six points above the state score of 1485. Also, its math score of 508 was the same as the state average (508).

• West Vigo High School had an overall improvement of nine points. Its scores improved five points in verbal/critical reading (to 460 this year from 455 last year; up 14 points in writing (to 453 from 439 last year); and down 10 points in math (to 433 from 443 last year).

At North Vigo, overall scores declined 10 points, to 1479 this year from 1489 last year. Scores were down three points in verbal/ critical reading; down 11 points in math and up four points in writing.

At South, overall scores were down 21 points — down 11 points in verbal/critical reading, down two points in math and down eight points in writing. The overall score was 1491, compared to 1512 last year.

Goeller noted that the school district has received a grant from the Lumina Foundation to encourage eighth graders to take more rigorous coursework in high school. Among other things, the grant has funded summer institutes and after school tutoring.

At the elementary level, the school district has a strong reading program, and the district has special writing teachers who work with students in second and fifth grades.

The district also benefits from a literacy enrichment program called Partners Advancing Literacy Skills, or PALS. Created through a grant from the Lilly Endowment, PALS is a group of community partners whose goal is to promote higher student achievement in literacy.

The school district encourages all high school students to take the SAT, Goeller said.

She noted that at all three high schools, the percentage of students on free or reduced lunch is increasing. At North, 40 percent of students in 2007-08 were on free or reduced lunch, while in 2005-06, 35 percent of students were. At West Vigo, 45 percent of students were on free and reduced lunch last year, compared to 38 percent in 2005-06.

Socioeconomic status is one of the factors that can impact SAT scores, she said.

On the ACT test, Vigo County’s composite score of 23 was above the state average of 22. Only 59 students took the test.

State education officials say that Indiana’s average SAT scores continue to trail the national average because a greater proportion of students take the test here.

In Indiana, about 62 percent of high school students take the SAT, while nationally, about 45 percent take the test.

Sue Loughlin can be reached at (812) 231-4235 or sue.loughlin@tribstar.com.