Over the last decade, North Carolina’s students have made some impressive gains on the SAT exam. We need to better understand how and why this happened.

State officials claim that their emphasis on raising academic standards was responsible for the improvement. But consider a few other possibilities:

1. We have added nearly 200,000 students to our public schools since 2000, a 15 percent increase. Have we been importing talent?

2. The state’s public charter schools have grown rapidly and will serve over 30,000 this school year. Did North Carolina’s charter schools help to raise SAT scores?

3. The home school population has more than doubled since 2000. What role do tens of thousands of home school students play?

4. SAT preparation classes, programs, and publications are affordable and accessible. Are students just better prepared for the test?

I know one thing for sure: I will not give DPI or the State Board of Education a pat on the back until I know for sure that they deserve it.