Idaho students exceed national averages on the SAT test
(Boise). SAT scores for Idaho public high school students exceeded the national average in overall scoring, as well as in the individual reading and math scores. A higher percentage of students also met SAT benchmarks compared to students across the nation.
SAT Mean Score Comparison: Idaho and Nation
State of Idaho
Nation
Mean Score – Overall
999
984
Mean Score – Reading
509
498
Mean Score – Math
490
486
“Overall, this is a positive for Idaho and the work being done in our schools. As we review the data, it shows that we have more work to do, particularly in math, but we are trending in the right direction,” said Matt Freeman, Executive Director of the Idaho State Board of Education.
The scoring data is based on a comparison of the scores for 228,106 SAT tests taken nationwide as part of National SAT School Days held in March and April 2016. National SAT School Days is a College Board (parent organization of SAT) program that coordinates with states and school districts to administer the SAT test to high school students at their school during a school day. Each year, the State of Idaho pays for every public high school junior to take the SAT in April as part of National SAT School Days, which included more than 17,000 students this year. Delaware, Maine and Michigan are the only other states, along with Washington, DC, to administer the SAT to all high school juniors. In other states, students choose whether or not to take the test depending on if the student intends to go to college. States that administer the SAT to all high school juniors tend to have lower scoring averages than those states in which taking the test is optional, making Idaho’s accomplishment of exceeding national averages more remarkable.
College Board has also set scoring benchmarks for individual subject areas of the test. According to College Board, students meeting or exceeding the reading benchmark have a 75% probability of earning at least a “C” in a first-semester college history, literature, social sciences, or writing class. Students meeting or exceeding the math benchmark are deemed to have a 75% probability of earning at least a “C” in a first-semester college-level math class.
Percent of Students Meeting SAT Benchmarks: Idaho and Nation
State of Idaho
Nation
Students Meeting Both Benchmarks
33%
32%
Students Meeting Reading Benchmark
62%
56%
Students Meeting Math Benchmark
35%
34%
A new version of the SAT was introduced in March 2016.
The College Board developed the new version to better align with Common Core Standards adopted by many states and to better gauge a student’s future success by measuring what a student has learned in high school and what the student needs to know to be successful in college.
The Idaho Core Standards, Idaho’s version of the Common Core Standards, are academic standards intended to prepare students to go-on to college and then pursue a career.
Adopted in 2010, the Idaho Core Standards have been taught in all Idaho schools since 2013. “Improved student performance on the new version of the SAT is an indicator that our higher academic standards are teaching our students the knowledge, skills and abilities they need to be college ready,” said Freeman.
Statewide and school district SAT scores can be found on the State Board of Education web site at www.boardofed.idaho.gov.
The State Board of Education is charged with the general supervision and governance of the public educational institutions and the public school system of the State of Idaho. To learn more about the Idaho State Board of Education, please visit www.boardofed.idaho.gov.