New York's SAT Scores Are a Mixed Bag

SAT scores and a city audit dominated the education news coverage yesterday.

Today's stories:

New York state public school students both held and lost some ground on the SAT this year.

On average, their scores were one point higher on the English portion of the exam, where they averaged 485, and on the math portion they scored 499 and remained flat. But on the writing exam, their scores fell by two points. Nationally, students' average scores fell in all three sections.

To have a 65 percent chance of getting at least a B- average as a college freshmen, the College Board now says that students need a combined score of 1,550.

An audit of the city Department of Education's school space calculations found mistakes in the Blue Book, a compilation of enrollment, space and classroom availability data that the city uses to decide which schools can expand, share space, or move. New York Times' reporter Fernanda Santos reported on SchoolBook yesterday:

The audit, by New York City Comptroller John C. Liu, found mistakes in the book, like classrooms measured at half their actual size and rooms used as classrooms that were not counted as such. In some cases, the mistakes led to an overestimation of a school’s occupancy, while in others, they made schools appear less crowded than they are.

In its coverage of the audit, the Daily News cites the example of a Department of Education official who made a sample visit to P.S. 168 in the Bronx, which is supposed to ensure the accuracy of the Blue Book's data. Yet after the official's visit, data on 10 classrooms remained incorrect.

City education officials said the errors found were not significant enough to alter their overall space plans.

For more in local and national education news, see GothamSchools' morning round-up.

Around town Thursday:

Assuming rain does not dampen their spirits, the New York City Parents Union and Class Size Matters are planning to hold a rally on the steps of the State Supreme Court in Manhattan this morning at 9 a.m. before a hearing on a charter school co-location lawsuit. The groups believe that charter schools are legally obligated to pay the city rent for operating in public space.

Matthew Jensen, a New York City-based artist, is unveiling a photo series called "Nowhere in Manhattan" that he, with the help of students, has installed on the construction wall on 57th Street in front of what will be the new High School for Art and Design. According to Mr. Jensen, the students there helped select the images, some of which will eventually end up inside the school.

At 3:30 p.m. designers will unveil the new expansion of the Queens library in Jamaica. In part of the library, visitors will be able to stand on an interactive floor map of Queens, which we're told makes "Queens-ish noises' depending on where you stand. Sounds like ... ?

Learning Network question of the day: "If you drink or use drugs, do your parents know?"