New Mexico to require SAT again after virus delay

New Mexico students will take the SAT in spring 2022 as the state phases in a pandemic-delayed testing requirement aimed at increasing participation that varies widely by racial and ethnic groups.

Those disparities were stark this spring as high school students were offered the test but didn’t have to take it. There were deep differences in high school juniors’ participation according to racial and ethnic groups, with particularly low tallies among Indigenous students, data released by New Mexico’s education department show.

The state had planned to require high school juniors to take the English and math exams this spring, replacing previous statewide assessments. Around a dozen states, including Ohio and New Jersey, require students to take the SAT or list it as one of the options to fulfill federal requirements for standardized testing.

But the pandemic made it harder for students nationwide to take the SAT. Logistical complications from the virus spurred New Mexico to get a waiver from federal testing requirements.

Exactly 25 percent of eligible high school juniors took the test this spring in New Mexico, according to data released by the state’s Public Education Department this week.

The rate was far lower for Indigenous students, with only 11 percent of high school juniors in that group taking the test.

In Cuba, on the eastern edge of the Navajo Nation in northwestern New Mexico, around two-thirds of high school students have roots with the tribe. Eight students took the SAT last spring, down from 60 in a typical year, said Anna Brown, a guidance counselor at Cuba High School.

Three were Navajo and took the test to qualify for the Chief Manuelito Scholarship run by the Navajo Nation.

“There were a bunch of kids that signed up for it initially,” said Brown, who encourages students to take the SAT because the state pays for it and it’s often accepted interchangeably with the competing ACT. “Not that many kids actually showed up” and wanted to take the risk, she said.

An increasing number of universities no longer require the SAT for admission, but state officials and local guidance counselors still encourage students to take it.

“If SAT weren’t the state-designated assessment for high school, some students might never realize their potential for college placement. It also allows students access to scholarship opportunities who otherwise might not be able to afford tuition,” said Lynn Vasquez, Learning Management System director at the education department.