August 31, 2001

State Government News

North Carolina SAT score rises four points; nation up one point
While the national average increased by only one point, North Carolina's average total SAT score moved up four points in 2000-01, continuing the upward trend that the state has experienced since 1989. The gap between North Carolina's and the nation’s average SAT score has been more than cut in half in that time, leaving the state just one point below the Southeast average.

In North Carolina, the math score increased by three points, to 499, while the verbal score went up by one point to 493, for a total SAT score of 992. The nation's one-point gain was in the verbal score. The national mathematics score is 514 and the verbal score is 506 for a total of 1020.

North Carolina has the 12th largest (tied with Maryland) participation rate of SAT takers in the nation. In 2000-01, approximately 44,200 students in North Carolina took the SAT. This is up about 3 percent from the previous year. Generally, the higher the percentage of students taking the SAT, the lower the score. North Carolina has the largest gain, 40 points, of any state that tests more than 12 percent of its students for the period of 1991-2001. The nation gained only 21 points during this same time period.

In announcing the new SAT scores Tuesday, State Board of Education Chairman Phil Kirk said, “We are very pleased that North Carolina has the largest gain, 40 points, of any state that tests more than 12 percent of its students for a 10-year period. The nation gained only 21 point during this time period (from 1991-2000). In other words, we gained nearly twice as many points. In 1990 we were 53 points away from the national average. Today, we are 28 points away from the nation.”

State Superintendent Mike Ward said he is pleased to see the SAT results continue to improve. "The NAEP results released a few weeks ago showed that North Carolina students are performing better than ever before on national measures. We're glad that the SAT results also are improving. We are still very concerned about the gaps in achievement and have to be diligent in our efforts to close these gaps."

In 2001, the average score of North Carolina's African-American students remained the same (835) as in 2000. The average scores of African-American students nationally rose one point to 859, leaving a gap of 24 points between North Carolina's minority students and those in the nation. North Carolina's score for minority students is 206 points lower than the score of white students in this state (1041), a widening of the gap by six points from the previous year. Nationally, the average score for white students is 1060, 19 points higher than that of white students in North Carolina. Nationally, the black-white gap increased to 201 points in 2001, up from 198 points in 2000.

North Carolina's Hispanic students scored 975 in 2001, a five-point increase over the previous year, and 59 points higher than Hispanic students nationally. American Indians were the only racial/ethnic group in North Carolina who scored lower in 2001 than in the previous year. Their score of 891 was six points lower than in 2000 and is 69 points lower than that of American Indian students nationally.

Surging unemployment produces
record payments of jobless benefits 
Unemployment surged in several North Carolina counties in July, a month when the state paid an all-time high of $88 million in unemployment benefits, according to Acting ESC Chairman Thomas S. Whitaker.

”A good example of what is happening in many counties across the state is Wayne County,” Whitaker said. “From June to July, the unemployment rate went from 4.9 to 6.6 percent there, which is the largest increase for any of our state’s Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs). That translates to 840 more people without a job in that county - - 35 percent more than one month earlier.”

Gaston (6.4 to 8.4 percent), Cleveland (11.1 to 12.1 percent), Chowan (4.6 to 8.6 percent), Lincoln (6.1 to 9.4 percent) and Davidson (6.1 to 8.3 percent) counties also experienced large jumps in unemployment rates. In Gaston, that meant 2,350 more workers were without jobs in July. Overall, 49 counties in the state saw more workers unemployed in July than the prior month.

See a chart showing unemployment rates in all 100 counties.