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How Idaho’s Juniors Fared On The SAT

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Idaho’s SAT scores dropped this year. That’s what the state’s Department of Education expected. Monday the department released the results of its first statewide SAT day.

In April the state paid for all high school juniors to take the college entrance exam. It’s part of new graduation requirements for the class of 2013. Only two other states do this.

Nearly 17,000 Idaho juniors took the test this year.

Their average scores on the 800 point test:

  • 448 in critical reading
  • 454 in mathematics
  • 447 in writing

The 2011 national averages:

  • 497 in critical reading
  • 514 in mathematics
  • 447 in writing

Idaho’s 2011 senior class scored above the national average.

Their average scores:

  • 542 in critical reading
  • 539 in mathematics
  • 539 in writing

The big difference is in how many students took the test. About six times as many juniors took the test this year than all the Idaho students last year, and that included all high school grades. Plus, most of the 2011 SAT takers paid for it themselves and presumably studied. That can’t be said for all this year’s juniors.
The state Department of Education will use this year’s numbers as a base line and won’t compare them to previous years. The national SAT results are due out later this month. They will show how Idaho’s recently graduated seniors did on last spring’s test. They represent the last group that will have to pay for the test themselves in Idaho.  

Copyright 2012 Boise State Public Radio 

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