«Cruise believes the education of children
is suffering due to extensive Ritalin use. In connection to
the drug, he said, “SAT scores have gone right down the
toilet” (2).
Not so, says the College Board, the non-profit organization
that designs, administers, and evaluates the SAT (scholastic
aptitude test) and PSAT (preliminary SAT) among other tests
and advanced placement courses. In a recent article about
trends in test scores, the College Board said,
“Consistent with a decade-long trend, SAT math
scores have continued to rise. In 2002, the average SAT math score rose two
points to 516.” The report does note that while “Verbal scores declined in 2002
[by 2 points] to an average of 504 for the entire test-taking population . . .
The average verbal score for 2002 is just 4 points higher than that of 1992”
(5).
I would dare say this report does not indicate that SAT
scores are going down the toilet.»
