More students from the class of 2014 took the SAT this year than previous years, but a new report from College Board shows less than half of Floridas students are ready for college.
The report, released Tuesday, found only 36.8 percent of Florida students met the SAT College and Career Readiness benchmark, which determines whether or not a student is prepared to head off to college.
Floridas number is several points lower than the national average of 42.6 percent for meeting the readiness benchmark.
College Board says students who hit the benchmark of a combined score of 1,550 (critical reading, mathematics and writing sections are each worth 800 points) have a 65 percent likelihood of achieving a B- average or higher during their first year of college.
Florida's class of 2014 scored an average of 491 in reading, 485 in math and 472 in writing, scores below the national averages in every category.
This years scores are also lower than last year's scores, when fewer students took the admissions test.
An achievement gap persists in Floridas results -- only 14.1 percent of African-American test takers met the benchmarks, while nearly 31 percent of Hispanic test-takers performed comparably.
Across the country, SAT scores remained unchanged from previous years.
"Flat and stagnant would be the words that we would use," said the College Board's chief of assessment, Cyndie Schmeiser.
College Board announced a redesign of the SAT earlier this year. The changes, which will begin in 2016, include an optional essay as well as fewer multiple choice answers. The test will also be shorter.
On a more positive note, Florida did rank eighth nationally when it came to student performance on Advanced Placement (AP) exams -- 16 percent of students in the Sunshine State passed their AP exams compared with 13 percent passing nationally.
Student participation in AP courses, which give college credit for passing scores of three or higher, has increased significantly over the last decade. A little over one-third of Floridas 11th- and 12th-graders took at least one AP exam in 2014, an increase of nearly 17 percent since 2004.
Commissioner of Education Pam Stewart said Florida still had ground to cover when it came to being ready for college.
"Today's College Board program results provide a more complete picture of gains made -- and opportunities that still remain to improve overall college readiness, access and completion for Florida students through earlier engagement and support," she said.
To see national results as well as a state-by-state breakdown of SAT and AP exam scores, click here.
Reach Tampa-based reporter Allison Nielsen via email at allison@sunshinestatenews.com or follow her on Twitter: @AllisonNielsen.
