Virginia SAT Report

Virginia public school students achieved one-point increases in both critical reading and mathematics on the 2009 SAT while achievement on the relatively new writing component of the test dropped by one point. Virginia public school students continued to achieve at higher levels than public school students nationwide.

• Virginia’s public school average score of 509 in reading is 13 points higher than the nationwide public-school average.
• The average mathematics score of 511 for Virginia public school students is one point higher than the national average for public school students.
• The average Virginia public school writing score of 495 is eight points higher than the average writing score of public school test takers nationwide.
• In the last ten years, average scores of Virginia public school students on the SAT have increased by three points in reading and 14 points in mathematics. This compares with a national decline of six points in reading for public school students and a gain of two points in mathematics.
• A total of 47,100, or 58 percent, of Virginia public school graduates took the SAT — a 6.8 percent decrease from the previous year. The College Board attributes the decline to an increase in the number of students taking the rival ACT. The SAT, however, remains the dominant college entrance examination in Virginia.

Black public school students in the commonwealth achieved the following average scores on the 2009 SAT:

• Reading: 433 — a one-point increase over 2008 and 8 points higher than their peers nationwide
• Mathematics: 426 — a one-point decrease and 3 points higher
• Writing: 421 — a two-point decrease and 5 points higher.

Hispanic public school students in the commonwealth achieved the following average scores:

• Reading: 491 — a six-point increase over 2008 and 43 points higher than their peers nationwide
• Mathematics: 490 — a five-point increase and 33 points higher
• Writing: 476 — a four point increase and 35 points higher.

Asian public school students in the commonwealth achieved the following average scores:

• Reading: 528 — a two-point increase over 2008 and 12 points higher than their peers nationwide
• Mathematics: 576 — a four-point increase and 3 points higher
• Writing: 527 — a four-point increase and 10 points higher.

White public school students in the commonwealth achieved the following average scores:

• Reading: 535 — a three-point increase over 2008 and 11 points higher than their peers nationwide
• Mathematics: 534 — a one-point increase and 2 points lower
• Writing: 518 — same as last year and 6 points higher.
• Overall average achievement of Virginia high school seniors — including private and home-schooled students — remained steady in reading and mathematics and dropped a point in writing.

• Virginia’s all-student average of 511 in reading is ten points higher than the national all-student average.
• The commonwealth’s all-student average of 512 in mathematics is three points lower than the national average.
• Virginia’s all-student average writing score of 498 is five points higher than the national average
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Virginia SAT Report