New York City students posted gains on the SATs in 2010 from the previous year, in contrast to statewide scores, which dropped slightly from 2009 to 2010.  While the city's overall SAT scores inched up only a few points in math and English over 2009, the slight jump reversed a four-year downward  trend in performance.

The modest gains were limited to Asian and white students. Performance by black and Latino students didn't budge much from 2009 (one point increase in math; three point decline in writing section), but the overall scores for these two sub-groups, which comprise the majority of the city's students, has declined since 2002, when Mayor Bloomberg first took office and gained control over city schools.<!--more-->

On the upside, many more minority students are taking the SAT exams than in 2002. “This year’s results suggest that more students have college on their minds,” said Chancellor Joel I. Klein in a press release.

More students in city schools are also taking Advanced Placement exams. In 2002, roughly 17,000 sat for at least one AP exam, fewer than half the 28,000 who took at least one AP exam in 2010.

Read the Department of Education's full presentation on the 2010 SAT, AP and PSAT exam results here.  For a look at SAT participation since 2002, see here.

On a related note, check out a New York Times article from 2009 on the correlation between family income and SAT performance.

More news coverage at the New York Times, New York Postand Gotham Schools.

And, do you have an 11th or 12th grade in need of SAT test prep? Check out our post about free test prep offered by the DOE.