Salem-Keizer SAT Scores Remain Above National Average

Photo by: Tim King

(SALEM) - SAT scores for the class of 2006 were released Tuesday by the College Board - www.collegeboard.com. Salem-Keizer's scores remain above the national average and at about the same level as the state average.

Even though students maintained their high performance on the SAT, the overall scores did drop from the previous year.

This is a national trend.

The College Board explained that it's partly because of the new SAT test. It now includes a writing section.

The old test had a Verbal and Mathematics section. The new test now has three sections - Critical Reading, Writing and Mathematics.

"When a new test is introduced, students usually vary their test-taking behavior in a variety of ways and this affects scores," said Gaston Caperton, president of the College Board, in a statement sent out by the organization.

Here's a summary of Salem-Keizer scores for 2006:

District:
521 Critical Reading
503 Writing
527 Mathematics

State:
523 Critical Reading
503 Writing
529 Mathematics

National:
503 Critical Reading
497 Writing
518 Mathematics

View the complete scores for the past three years at www.salkeiz.k12.or.us/districtcenter/districtfacts/SATS/index.htm.

School officials issued a quick reminder that school starts next week. Here's the schedule:

Tuesday, September 5th: 6th and 9th grade only Wednesday, September 6th: All other grades - except Kindergarten Tuesday, September 12th: Kindergarten

Get the complete academic year calendar at www.salkeiz.k12.or.us/Calendars/academic.htm.