State Students Score Well In Reading, Writing SATS

HARTFORD (AP) — Connecticut students who took the latest SAT college entrance exams exceeded national averages in reading and writing, but lagged slightly behind in math.

The scores for 2010 graduates also showed one of every three Connecticut public school test-takers scored 600 or higher on at least one of the SAT exams.

The state Department of Education released the scores Monday for the approximately 27,000 Connecticut public school students who took the test.

That is a 73 percent participation rate among those eligible, the fourth highest nationwide behind Maine, Massachusetts, and New York.

This year’s average SAT scores were 505 in Connecticut for reading, compared with 498 nationally; 510 in math, compared with 511 nationally; and 510 in writing, compared with 488 nationally.

The maximum possible score on each section is 800.

While Connecticut math scores have increased over the past ten years, they have not matched the pace of improvement at the national level.

Connecticut’s high school graduates scored an average of 499 on the test in 1996, matching the national average. Since then, the highest level reached in Connecticut was 512 in 2005, still three points behind the national average for that year.

“I am concerned that several states with participation rates as strong as Connecticut’s are also scoring well above us,” Mark McQuillan, Connecticut’s education commissioner, said in written statements accompanying the scores. “We need to do more in math and science study, and I view this with a sense of urgency.”

The averages do not include the SAT scores of about 3,100 students in religiously affiliated schools and the approximately 2,700 test-takers in independent private schools.

The status of almost 3,200 other test-takers was unknown because they were either schooled at home, had already finished high school or were not classified with the other students because of other factors.

The results showed that students in independent schools in Connecticut were, by far, the most proficient on the three SAT exams. They averaged 592 in reading, 598 in math, and 595 in writing.