Latest College Board Results Show Increased Participation By State’s Minority Students.

The 2003 SAT and PSAT report of Pennsylvania’s college-bound high school students shows increases in participation by the state’s minorities in preparing for post-secondary education, Secretary of Education Vicki L. Phillips said.

“We’re starting to see a healthy trend in participation,” said Secretary Phillips. “There are dramatic increases among our African-American and Hispanic students.”

Participation by African-American juniors increased 15.2 percent, 14.8 percent for Puerto Rican students and 34.2 percent for other Hispanics, according to the report.

The results released Tuesday by The College Board, a non-profit organization located in New York City, offer a state-by-state view of test results and participation rates of college-bound high school students. Pennsylvania ranks ninth in the U.S. for the number of students participating in the SAT test. In the 2002-2003 school year, 79,095 Pennsylvania students took the SAT test, a 2.8 percent increase.

The performance scores for the state’s college-bound students are slightly above the national average but those numbers do not show any trends of strong increases.

“Clearly, we have work to do, but we are seeing improvement, especially with our sophomores and juniors,” said Secretary Phillips.

To view report CLICK below:

http://www.collegeboard.com/press/article/0,3183,26858,00.html