Over half of 2012’s graduates may not be ready for college

Over 1.5 million students took the SAT college entrance exam during the last school year, but only 43% of those students are expected to do well in college based on scores. The College Board reported that scores from the SAT have dropped in two sections of the test, math being the only section not declining. The reading score average has dropped 36 points since 1972 hitting a forty year low. Though some argue that the SAT is not a good predictor of college success, educators are still concerned.

“There are many students who have the potential to succeed in college, but they are not being supported by our education system,” said James Montoya, a vice president of the College Board, to the Wall Street Journal.

Lower scores have been attributed to a number of issues, including that of the economic crisis, as Helen F. Ladd, a professor of public policy and economics at Duke University, explains.

“Some kids are coming to school hungry, some without the health care they need, without the vocabulary that middle-class kids come to school with, even in kindergarten,” said Ladd. “If we really want to do something to close achievement gaps and raise test scores, we have to stop putting our heads in the sand and start addressing this issue.”