Business Community Comments on New SAT and API Scores in Bay Area.

News Editors/Business Editors/Education Writers

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 24, 2003

The Bay Area Council, in collaboration with GreatSchools, today announced a Bay Area analysis of the newly released Scholastic Achievement Test (SAT) and Academic Performance Index (API) scores for schools in the nine-county Bay Area. The Bay Area Council found that all nine counties exceeded the state average "2003 trend API" and that the vast majority of Bay Area schools met the "2003 API Growth Target." The Bay Area Council also discovered broad improvement in Bay Area SAT scores, exceeding previous Bay Area averages, as well as surpassing averages in California and the United States.

API Results

The average 2003 trend API for schools in the nine Bay Area counties was 721. This indicator was 50-points higher for the Bay Area as compared with an average of 671 for the entire state of California. While all nine counties exceed the state's average, Marin County had the highest 2003 trend score with 840, followed by Santa Clara with 740. The percentage of schools meeting the 2003 API Growth Target in the nine Bay Area counties was 87 percent. Santa Clara had the largest percentage of schools meeting their growth target with 92 percent, followed by Alameda at 89 percent and San Mateo at 88 percent.

SAT Scores

The average total (math and verbal) SAT score for the Bay Area in 2003 was 1059 with 52 percent of those enrolled in Grade 12 having taken the test. This Bay Area score in 2003 was:

-- 11 points higher than the 6-year (since 1998) historical

average for the Bay Area on the total SAT scores.

-- 41 points higher than the California average of 1018 for the

total SAT scores in 2003 with 54 percent of those enrolled in

Grade 12 in California taking the exam.

-- 33 points higher than the national average of 1026 for the

total SAT scores in 2003 with 48 percent of those enrolled in

Grade 12 nationwide taking the exam.

One of the best indicators of comparative SAT performance is the percentage of those enrolled in Grade 12 that achieve a total SAT score above 1000. For the Bay Area in 2003, 32 percent of those enrolled in Grade 12 exceeded a total SAT score of 1000. This compares favorably with the Bay Area's 6-year (since 1998) average of 30 percent and California's statewide 6-year average of 19 percent.

"For both long-term and short-term reasons the pace of improvement must continue if the Bay Area is to remain economically competitive," stated Sunne Wright McPeak, the president and CEO of the Bay Area Council. "We are asking a lot of Bay Area schools since, due to the budget crisis, schools face reduced funding. Therefore, employers need to step into the gap to be more engaged in education reform to improve performance."

"The Bay Area Council, as a business group, is interested in educational performance for two reasons," continued Ms. McPeak. "First, because today's students are tomorrow's workers and business leaders and, just as important, because today's quality employees -- as parents -- are drawn to regions with good school systems."

The Bay Area Council conducts its analysis with GreatSchools to assist employers, educators, public officials and foundations in evaluating education performance in the Bay Area, as well as to measure the impact of new public policy and programs designed to improve education performance.

Bay Area Council

The Bay Area Council is a business-sponsored, CEO-led, public policy organization founded in 1945 to promote economic prosperity and quality of life in the region. It represents major employers in the region and mobilizes business leadership to address issues related to the regional economy, including education and workforce preparation. For additional information, please visit the Bay Area Council's web site at www.bayareacouncil.org.

GreatSchools.net

GreatSchools.net is a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide parents with the information they need to choose schools, support their children's education and improve schools. GreatSchools.net provides and maintains its free online guide to K-12 schools across the country at www.greatschools.net.