Addresses the question of why there is a decrease in college participation by blacks and whether this indicates that American society is becoming more racist. It explains how low expectations about going to college can negatively affect secondary school performance and how government policies contributed to those expectations. (GR)

The College Entrance Examination Board Advisory Panel on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) Score Decline considered various changes in American society as a possible cause of the downward trend in SAT scores that has occurred each year since 1963. For a span of 42 years (1933-75), a fold-out chart displays major events and influences on events,…