Report Title:

SAT Preparation Courses

RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, reading and verbal scores on the Scholastic Assessment Test indicate that many Hawaii public high school students, currently, do not have the information processing skills and strategies needed to comprehend a broad range of materials; and

WHEREAS, a Scholastic Assessment Test preparation course would enhance students' verbal and math test taking skills; and

WHEREAS, in a National Assessment of Educational Progress report, a sampling of eight grade mathematics students across Hawaii in the spring of 1990 shows the Hawaii score of two hundred fifty-one was ten points below the national norm of two hundred sixty-one; and

WHEREAS, given the low scores by Hawaii students, they would not have a high acceptance rate when applying for college admission; and

WHEREAS, state by state results of the College Board's 2000 Scholastic Assessment Test show Hawaii public high school students had an average verbal score of four hundred sixty-one and math score of four hundred ninety-one, with 4,595 college bound public school students in Hawaii taking the test; and

WHEREAS, the national average verbal score for public school students was five hundred one and the national math score was five hundred ten; and

WHEREAS, because Hawaii public school students achieve average verbal and math scores that are lower than the national public school averages, public high schools should implement Scholastic Assessment Test preparation courses as an elective course; and

WHEREAS, nineteen Oahu high schools do not offer Scholastic Assessment Test preparation courses as an elective course; and

WHEREAS, the 2000 Hawaii State Student Conference recommended that Scholastic Assessment Test preparation courses be offered for credit as an elective course to help students improve their test scores by giving students an opportunity for review and test taking practice; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2001, the Senate concurring, that Hawaii public schools with grade ten or above are urged to make available to eligible students a Scholastic Assessment Test preparation course for one unit of elective credit; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Scholastic Assessment Test preparation course should be designed to offer students an opportunity for review and practice test taking, and may be offered in the manner prescribed by the Board of Education; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board of Education is requested to supplement and develop the content areas of the Scholastic Assessment Test preparation course with specific curriculum standards, as it deems appropriate; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson of the Board of Education and the Superintendent of Schools.