August 31, 1999
The high school class of '99 lost a little academic ground, according to SAT college entrance exam scores made public today.
Scores on math, reading and vocabulary tests had, for the most part, been slowly improving over the past decade. But now the momentum has reversed again-- at least for a year.
The National math SAT average was off one point. The verbal average was stagnant.
Utah graduates lost two points in both categories from one year ago.
Still, Utah scored above the national average. A smaller pool of participants generally mean higher test scores. And Utah was third lowest of all the states in the percentage of students taking the test. So it's no surprise they scored well.
NATIONAL AVERAGE SAT SCORES
1999 Math 511 Verbal 505
1998 Math 512 Verbal 505
UTAH AVERAGE SAT SCORES
1999 Math 568 Verbal 570
1998 Math 570 Verbal 572
HIGHEST AVERAGE VERBAL SCORES: (for states where 60% of graduates took test)
New Hampshire (520)
Vermont (514)
Massachusetts (511)
HIGHEST MATH SCORES:
New Hampshire (518)
Massachusetts (511)
Maryland (511)
AVERAGE SCORES BY STATE:
State/Average Verbal/Average Math/Percentage Tested
Ala. 561 555 9
Alaska 516 514 50
Ariz. 524 525 34
Ark. 563 556 6
Calif. 497 514 49
Colo. 536 540 32
Conn. 510 509 80
Dela. 503 497 67
D.C. 494 478 77
Fla. 499 498 53
Ga. 487 482 63
Hawaii 482 513 52
Idaho 542 540 16
Ill. 569 585 12
Ind. 496 498 60
Iowa 594 598 5
Kan. 578 576 9
Ky. 547 547 12
La. 561 558 8
Maine 507 507 68
Md. 507 511 65
Mass. 511 511 78
Mich. 557 565 11
Minn. 586 598 9
Miss. 563 548 4
Mo. 572 572 8
Mont. 545 546 21
Neb. 568 571 8
Nev. 512 517 34
N.H. 520 518 72
N.J. 498 510 80
N.M. 549 542 12
N.Y. 495 502 76
N.C. 493 493 61
N.D. 594 605 5
Ohio 534 538 25
Okla. 576 560 8
Ore. 525 525 53
Pa. 498 495 70
R.I. 504 499 70
S.C. 479 475 61
S.D. 585 588 4
Tenn. 559 553 13
Texas 494 499 50
Utah 570 568 5
Vt. 514 506 70
Va. 508 499 65
Wash. 525 526 52
W.Va. 527 512 18
Wis. 584 595 7
Wyo. 546 551 10
(Numbers Courtesy NBC NewsChannel)
SAT Info From College Board Online
