FAIRFAX COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS
RELEASES SENIOR SAT SCORES

Superintendent Robert R. Spillane has released the scores for Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) seniors in the class of 1997 who took the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT I): Reasoning Test. On the mathematics section of the SAT I, FCPS students scored much higher than students in the nation and Virginia with an average score of 550, compared to 511 nationwide and 497 statewide. On the verbal section of the SAT I, FCPS students also scored significantly higher than students in the nation and in Virginia with an average score of 538, compared to 505 nationwide and 506 statewide

Commenting on the scores, Spillane said, "We are pleased with the overall upward trend in our scores over the last five years. We are especially pleased with the unusually high percentage of FCPS students who took the SAT I."

In Fairfax County, 89 percent of the graduating seniors took the test, an increase of 341 students, compared to 42 percent nationwide and 69 percent in Virginia. This continues an upward trend since 1982 when only 75 percent of Fairfax County seniors took the test. Also, the percentage of seniors taking the test who reported their ethnic background as other than White has increased for the tenth consecutive year, more than doubling from 17 percent in 1987 to 35 percent in 1997.

Following are highlights of the FCPS SAT I results. A more detailed summary will be released later this year. All data in this release represents recentered scale scores.

• When compared with recentered 1996 scores, the FCPS verbal score decreased five points and the math score decreased three points. Nationally, the verbal score remained unchanged and the math score increased three points. In Virginia, the verbal score decreased one point and the math score increased one point. (See Table 1).
• Math scores for FCPS females increased 10 points since 1992. Math scores for males increased 14 points over the same time period. (See Table 2.) National scores for females rose 10 points and nine points for males since 1992.
• Verbal and math scores for all FCPS ethnic groups exceeded national and state averages for ethnic groups. (See Table 3.)
• FCPS Asian students’ scores exceeded national Asian scores by 12 points on the verbal and 10 points on the math. (See Table 3.)
• FCPS African-American students’ scores exceeded national African-American scores by 35 points on the verbal and 38 points on the math. (See Table 3.)
• FCPS Hispanic students’ scores exceeded national Hispanic scores by 51 points on the verbal and 54 points on the math. (See Table 3.)
• FCPS White students’ scores exceeded the national White scores by 35 points on the verbal and 37 points on the math. (See Table 3.)