Statistics released in October shocked educators this month, showing that the Class of 2014 posted the lowest SAT scores in more than 20 years.

“Wow. This is bad,” AP history teacher Anne Sherwood said when she saw the numbers for the first time. The data shows a steep decline in the math scores from the past decade. In 1992, it was 493 out of a perfect 800 score. However, in 2012, the average score is the lowest it’s been in 22 years, at a 495. “I think what’s going on in Texas is the increase in second language English speakers that’s a major influx into our public education system,” Sherwood said.

She said that educators have to provide a free public education for every kid who walks through the door. “If you enter school with limited english skills then success on the SAT is going to come much more difficulty,” she said. Sherwood said she doesn’t think the problem lies with students not receiving rigorous assignments.

“We are certainly asking them to read and write everyday, and we’re certainly working as a department and as a campus to ensure higher literacy skills among our students,” she said. “However I’m not willing to put this in the lap of educators, because I think it’s caused more by social and political trends in our country,” she said.

However, some teachers think that there is more educators can do to support students make higher scores. “I think the drop is an indicator that we are definitely missing something along the way,” said AP English teacher Anthony Bromberg. “Whether it’s early childhood foundation or the focus on standardized tests moving us away from the more creative math thinking.” He said that when he was in school there was a lot of repetitive learning; practicing the essentials over and over again until students finally got it down.

“Nowadays there’s not a foundation coming in from elementary school on stuff like basic arithmetic skills, which makes the harder level skills more difficult to teach,” Bromberg said.