Nevada students do well on SAT

Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2001 | 10:36 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Nevada high school seniors scored higher than the national average on the college aptitude test this year, but minority students are still below the norm.

The state Department of Education reported today that 4,898 college-bound students took the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), averaging a 509 score on verbal ability compared to the national 506.

Nevada seniors posted a composite 515 score on math compared to the nationwide 514.

The scores of the Nevada students were slightly below last year when they registered 510 on verbal and 517 on math.

The SAT is used by 90 percent of all colleges that use a test in the admission process.

Jack McLaughlin, state superintendent of public instruction, said the higher than national average scores by Nevada seniors "reflect the achievement efforts of our students, the increasingly higher goals set by our education system and the commitment of Nevada parents to their children's education.

"Average scores in the 500s is satisfying, considering the scores in Nevada at the beginning of the last decade that were in the middle 400s," McLaughlin said in a news release.

But there's a big disparity between whites and minorities.

White students averaged 519 on verbal and 522 on math. Asian students posted 498 on verbal and 533 on math.

The department said Indian students scored 473 on verbal and 465 on math; blacks registered 444 on verbal and 448 on the math portion; Mexican Americans had 481 on verbal and 487 on math and other Hispanics posted 489 on verbal and 490 on math. McLaughlin said one of his top goals is to boost the scores of minorities. He said there is funding from the Bush Administration to close "the achievement gap."

And he said he is working with the Clark County School District and UNLV to set up a research program and to provide direct services not only to minorities but to top academic achievers.

This is the first time, he said, that a university is working with school districts to do research and provide tutoring.