
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, March 12, 1992                   TAG: 9203120456
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

SAT SCORES DON'T TELL THE WHOLE STORY

I TAKE exception to Cal Thomas' assertion (column, Feb. 5) that the public schools are not doing their job, based on the decline in Scholastic Aptitude Test scores.

Yes, the scores are down, but more students take SATs now than in 1966. Mr. Thomas cites Utah's high scores: As any statistician will tell you, scores from Western states are higher than those in the East because those are usually the more able students who are applying to Eastern schools. Colleges and universities in the Western states generally require the American College Test, not the SAT.

As fewer students take the SAT, the mean will go up. Our most able students are just as educated as those from other Western countries. In the United States almost all students go to high school, whereas in most of the rest of the world, high school is by admission exams.

Private and parochial schools have the option of not accepting students with problems (learning disabilities and mentally, physically, emotionally, and behaviorally handicapped). Public schools must deal with all the children, not a select few.

Let's support our public schools and give our teachers the respect they deserve (and the pay!) for a good job done under less-than-ideal circumstances. CATHERINE D. DEROSSET CHRISTIANSBURG

by CNB