More Students, Higher Scores: High School Cracks SAT Exam

By IAN FEIN

Efforts to improve SAT scores at the Martha's Vineyard Regional High School are apparently paying off.

For the second consecutive year the graduating class of seniors posted the school's best average scores on both the verbal and math sections of the key college entrance exam. The class of 2004 also had the highest percentage of Vineyard students to ever take the test - with 152 of 181 graduates, or 84 per cent, giving up a Saturday morning to put their No. 2 pencils to work.

"We're going to keep progressing as far as we can go," said principal Margaret (Peg) Regan. "We're constantly trying to top our own improvement, and a lot of that comes from the encouragement of the teachers and counselors, and the students seeing that they can do well."

The Vineyard class of 2004 posted an average verbal score of 543 and a math score of 536, well above the state and national averages, and up slightly from the class of 2003's scores of 539 and 535.

Statistics and averages fluctuate easily in small schools, but some trends have materialized in the last few years.

While Island students have maintained their traditionally high achievements in the verbal section, they have also seen steady improvement to their math scores. The percentage of Vineyard students scoring above 500 in the math section has risen in each of the last four years -  up from 49 per cent in 2001 to 63 per cent in 2004.

Michael McCarthy, the high school director of guidance, noted that while the Vineyard always had its share of high math scorers, the school took steps in recent years to boost the middle-range students.

"That's the group we've been targeting, so it has been an effective approach to improve those areas," Mr. McCarthy said.

Doug DeBettencourt, head of the high school math department, said they examined test results from previous years and found weaknesses, in subjects such as algebra I and geometry. The department put more emphasis on instruction in those areas, and saw substantial improvement to scores.

"Departmentally, we made a commitment to it, and the kids have made a commitment to it," Mr. DeBettencourt said, noting that more than one-third of high school students now take some sort of SAT preparation outside of school.

In addition to nationwide programs like Kaplan and Princeton Review that are now available on the Island, students for the last three years have had the option of enrolling in affordable after-school test prep classes with Mr. DeBettencourt and English teacher Todd Sawyer.

"I think that's all added up," Mr. DeBettencourt said. "For our area, we've got darn good SAT scores."

A gender gap in SAT math scores on the Island, however, still exists.

Three years ago, Mrs. Regan expressed concern that female students were lagging behind their male counterparts in SAT math scores, a trend that also exists on the state and national levels. At the time, some 40 per cent of Vineyard males scored above 600 while only 11 per cent of females did.

That gap has since narrowed, to 32 and 18 per cent, but last year's females scored an average of about 40 points lower than males - 502 versus 543.

"I don't really think that it was something that really needed to be addressed," Mr. DeBettencourt said. "Our discrepancy was consistent with the national trend, but I think we've addressed it. We did some general prodding to get girls to take more classes and get more involved mathematically, and I think that's narrowed the gap."

Island students have also increased their verbal SAT scores in each of the last four years, though the Vineyard has traditionally done better in that area. Since the College Board recentered the SAT scoring system in 1996, Island students have averaged over 530 in the verbal section.

Keith Dodge, head of the high school English department, said that all of the 11th grade teachers include SAT preparation in their lesson plans - usually spending about one week each fall and each spring on test-taking skills.

"That's a conscious decision," he said. "We don't want to spend the whole year teaching to the test, but I think it would be a disservice not to help prepare them. I think that's part of our job."

Mr. Dodge added that although the high school takes steps to prepare students for the SAT, he thinks that much of the credit for the consistent high scores should fall to the Island's entire school system.

"Our kids get good reading and writing instruction from the earliest years on," Mr. Dodge said. "In two weeks you can help them with a few strategies and tips, but obviously it's an 11-year process."

Despite their past successes, Vineyard students have new challenges on the horizon. Beginning this March, students will face a revised SAT verbal section and a new writing component.

Mr. McCarthy noted that Massachusetts students might be better prepared than most for the new writing component, as they have seen similar sections in their MCAS exams.

In fact, Mrs. Regan also credits the MCAS testing for recent improvements to the school's SAT scores.

"I really feel that the impact of MCAS has pushed a lot of kids further in math who may have been underachieving for awhile," she said. "This test has really raised the bar for a lot of kids, which has a really nice effect when the kids take the SATs."