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August 29, 2006

Update: R.I. SAT scores down, following national trend

SAT scores for college-bound Rhode Island high school students fell this year for the first time since 1999, according to a report released today by the company that administers the test.

Rhode Island's high school seniors (both from private and public schools) earned an average score of 495 for the critical reading section of the test, and 502 in the math section -- a drop of 8 and 3 points respectively from last year. The decline follows a national trend of slightly lower test scores after seven years without a drop.

See a list of test scores for every public high school in Rhode Island.

In Massachusetts, scores also fell to 513 for critical reading and 524 for math. That's down from last year's average scores of 520 and 527.

Nationally, the Class of 2006 scored an average of 503 on the reading section, down five points from the previous year. They earned an average of 518 on the math section, down two points.

At a press conference today, the state education commissioner attributed the decline to the addition of a writing portion of the test, a change that added 45 minutes to the exam.

“Though I am disappointed to see this one-year decline in Rhode Island SAT scores, I believe that the one-year drop can in part be attributed to the newly structured SAT exams,” said Peter McWalters, Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education. “I am confident that by next year the scores will once again improve, as they have done throughout the past decade.”

-- projo.com staff writer Steve Peoples

Posted by Steve Peoples  at 2:00 PM | Permalink

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