As National Average Dips, Bloomberg Touts Local High School Test Scores

In the past year, the national SAT average score has dipped three points, but the average for high school students in New York City has increased by eight points, Mayor Bloomberg touted at a press conference Tuesday.

In addition, the number of students who took and passed at least one advanced placement exam last year has increased to a record high of 19,500, which is up from 9,700 in 2002. The number of high school seniors taking the SAT has also increased by 53 percent over the past 11 years, according to data from the College Board.

"More of our students are taking the SAT and AP tests than ever before, which ought to mean lower scores because of the bigger pools of test takers -- but in fact the opposite has occured, with students here making gains even as students across the country slipped backwards," Bloomberg said in a statement.

The number of black students taking AP exams has increased nearly 13 percent in the last year, and the number of those students who passed at least one exam has increased by nearly eight percent, city officials said. The number of Hispanic students taking AP exams has increased by 16 percent in the last year, and the number of those students who passed at least one exam has increased by roughly 11 percent.

"Over the last decade, we have transformed the landscape in schools across the five boroughs -- and these new numbers reflect our extraordinary progress," Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott said in a statement. "While the rest of the nation remained flat or declined, last year New York City students saw increases in every SAT subject, which gains among all ethnicities."