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Inez Tenenbaum: SAT scores show state should stay the course

SAT scores show state should stay the course

Original at The Greenville News

By Inez Tenenbaum

Test score results continue to confirm what public education supporters have been saying for the past year: South Carolina's schools are progressing faster today than at any time in recent history, and our leaders need to stay the course.

The latest good news comes from the just-released 2005 SAT report, which shows South Carolina -- for the fourth year in a row -- leading the nation in improvement. Our 2005 high school seniors gained seven points, bringing our total gain since 1998 to 42 points. In contrast, the nation gained only 11 points over the same period.

The progress South Carolina has made in recent years has brought us much closer to our goal of meeting and exceeding the national SAT average. Just six years ago, the gap between our average and the nation's was 67 points. Today, it is 35 points and closing, despite the fact that more students are taking the test.

South Carolina's performance on virtually every indicator of student achievement underscores the fact that our state is making real, steady, substantial and even remarkable progress. While the SAT is a highly publicized indicator, a more accurate comparison with other states is the National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as "The Nation's Report Card." All states are required to participate in these federal standardized tests, so NAEP is the only student assessment system that yields valid state-to-state comparisons.

The verdict? South Carolina's NAEP ranking is not at the bottom or even near the bottom. Instead, we are at or approaching the national average in every category. Even more exciting is the fact that our schools are leading the nation in improvement on NAEP -- just as they are on the SAT.

Two weeks ago, South Carolina reported a small but significant gain on the ACT, the other major college entrance exam, continuing our trend of moving upward while the nation remains stagnant. Our students have scored at or above the national average for four consecutive years on TerraNova, another nationally standardized test. And PACT scores are up in every grade, every subject and across all demographic groups.

Despite these documented improvements, South Carolinians are being bombarded with negative messages about our public schools. And regrettably, some of these messages are fueled by partisan politics. For Exhibit A, look no further than the childish comments of state Republican Chairman Katon Dawson, who used the latest SAT release to ridicule South Carolina's improvement and attack my record as state superintendent. An odd tactic, considering that South Carolina's average SAT scores have risen 42 points during my tenure compared to a nine-point gain during the entire eight years of my Republican predecessor's administration.

Other of these biting negative messages are paid for by out-of-state interest groups that support Gov. Sanford's ill-conceived proposal to shift public money to private schools in the form of vouchers or tax credits -- a bad idea when it failed last year and a bad idea today.

Reflexive, knee-jerk partisan politics will never improve our public schools. Caustic, negative messages about education will never help our dedicated educators and hard-working students. They also feed an inferiority complex that South Carolinians no longer deserve and can no longer afford.

Make no mistake: South Carolina has not addressed all of its educational challenges, by any means. Over the next year, the Education Department will be working with high schools across the state on practices that can improve our SAT scores even more. Improving our high school graduation rate and promoting equitable funding so that all students have access to a quality education are other challenges I will be working aggressively to address.

But to South Carolina's leaders -- our governor and legislators -- I say this: South Carolina has made a tremendous investment in high standards and accountability, in financial and human terms. Our system is respected around the nation as one of the toughest and most rigorous.

Most important of all, it is working -- by virtually any standard and virtually any measure.

Instead of deserting our public schools, instead of attacking our schools and marginalizing our progress, see the gains we have made. Acknowledge the fact that hard work is paying off. Imagine where we can be in another six years.

And stay the course.