August 31, 2006 — Dr. Joseph Tafoya, Director of the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA), today announced the 2006 SAT results for the system, showing strong gains on both the math and critical reading portions of the test. Compared to the 2002 results, DoDEA mathematics scores showed an increase of fifteen points in 2006. Results on the critical reading test showed a gain of eleven points, from 504 in 2002, to 515 in 2006. This is the first year of the SAT writing test with DoDEA students scoring an average of 502 which is five points above the nation's average score of 497. The highest score of 800 on a subject test was earned by seven DoDEA students on the critical reading test, six DoDEA students on the mathematics test, and two DoDEA students on the writing test.

Math, critical reading and writing results for DoDEA, DDESS, DoDDS and the nation are reported in the table below.

The DoDEA overall participation rate dropped from 67% in 2005 to 65% in 2006. However, DoDEA students' 2006 SAT I participation rate of 65% is still substantially higher than the national participation rate of 48%. Participation rate information for DoDEA, DDESS, DoDDS and the nation are reported in the table below.

Because ACT is the primary college entrance exam for Ft. Campbell and Ft. Knox students, the DDESS participation rate for the SAT is normally lower than the rate for DoDDS.

African-American students scored 24 points higher than their peers in the nation on the critical reading test, 16 points higher in math, and 19 points higher in writing in 2006. While the nation's African-American students' scores have remained static over the past five years, African-American students in DoDEA have made a strong gain of 13 points on the math test from 2002.

Hispanic students in DoDEA outperformed their stateside counterparts in 2006 by 31 points on the critical reading test, 13 points on the math test, and 24 points on the writing test. From 2002 to 2006 DoDEA's Hispanic students increased their average math score by 21 points and their average critical reading score by 14 points.

The SAT Reasoning Test is a three-hour and 45 minute test that is a measure of the critical thinking skills related to successful performance in college. The 2006 SAT scores reflect recent changes to the SAT which now includes three sections instead of two. The College Board changed the Critical Reading section by removing the section on analogies and by adding short reading passages to existing long reading passages. The Math section was changed by removing quantitative comparisons and by adding topics from third-year college preparatory math. The writing section was new in 2006. SAT scores range from 200 (lowest) to 800 (highest), with the 2006 national average score of 503 for the critical reading test, 518 for the math test and 497 for the writing test. The SAT Reasoning Test is intended to supplement the secondary school record and other information about the student, in assessing readiness for college-level work.