SAT scores dropped seven points in 2006, marking the biggest decline from one year to the next since 1975. The mean score: 1021.

That’s just for the math and verbal (now called critical reading) sections. Last year marked the introduction of the new SAT, which includes a written portion, worth another 800 points.

The College Board, founded in 1900, is the not-for-profit group that administers the SAT. They blame the drop in scores on the new test, saying it impacts behavior and consequently scores.

In 1933, Harvard began using the SAT, adapted from an earlier IQ test used in the Army, to select scholarship candidates from outside the prep-school circuit.

Breaking it down
Gender: In 2006, boys scored only slightly higher than girls on the verbal section but were much stronger in math, scoring a total 1041 vs. 1004. Math scores have been trending higher in general in the last 10 years while verbal scores have suffered. Girls out-scored the boys in the new writing section, 502 vs. 491.

Race/ethnicity: Asians scored the highest overall out of all the groups while blacks scored the lowest.

Race/ethnicity	Mean score
Asian	1088
White	1063
Other	1007
No response	993
American Indian	981
Other Hispanic	921
Mexican American	919
Puerto Rican	915
Black	863

States: From a scoring perspective, you’ll find the best SAT takers in… drum roll… North Dakota and Iowa. North Dakotans clocked 617 on math and 610 on verbal. Iowans came in second with 613 math / 602 verbal. But only 4 percent of the students participated, versus 88 percent in New York (510 vs. 493).

Future of the test
A test that was meant to equalize the admissions field has come under controversy in recent years, as some question its ability to assess skills and point to bias and fairness issues. Some students hire tutors to prepare for the test while others don’t.

Just this week the New York Times reported that a growing number of colleges are abandoning admissions test requirements all together, and last spring the College Board announced a slew of scoring errors.

Interestingly, the SAT used to be called the Scholastic Achievement Test and then the Scholastic Aptitude test. Now it’s simply the SAT.

Still, about 1.5 million kids took the SAT last year.