Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Daniel A. Domenech has released the scores for Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) seniors in the class of 1999 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 in Virginia, with an average score of 553, compared to 511 nationwide and 499 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 541, compared to 505 nationwide and 508 statewide.

Commenting on the scores, Domenech said, "Although our scores have fluctuated over the last five years, we are pleased with the overall upward trend. We also think that it is especially significant that 84 percent of our students took the test, compared to 43 percent nationwide and 65 percent in Virginia." Following are highlights of the SAT I results for FCPS:

• When compared with 1998 scores, the FCPS average verbal score increased one point and the math score decreased two points. Nationally, the average verbal score remained unchanged and the math score decreased one point. In Virginia, the verbal score increased one point and the math score remained unchanged. (See Table 1.)
  
  
• Average math scores in FCPS have increased by eight points for females and by six points for males since 1995. (See Table 2.)
  
  
• Average verbal and math scores for all FCPS ethnic groups exceeded all national and state averages for ethnic groups. (See Table 3.)
  
  
• FCPS Asian students' average scores exceeded national Asian students' scores by 13 points on the verbal section and 11 points on the math section. (See Table 3.)
  
  
• FCPS African American students' average scores exceeded national African American students' scores by 42 points on the verbal section and 43 points on the math section. (See Table 3.)
  
  
• FCPS Hispanic students' average scores exceeded national Hispanic students' scores by 38 points on the verbal section and 42 points on the math section. (See Table 3.)