The ACT became slightly more popular than the SAT among high school seniors in 2012, but more than 1.66 million of them still showed up to take the test before graduating, according to "The SAT Report on College & Career Readiness: 2012."
The report, which is put out by The College Board, a non-profit group made up of schools and colleges that owns the SAT, lists mean scores nationally and by state from the SAT's three sections—Critical Reading, Mathematics and Writing.
Nationally, the report listed seniors' mean scores as 496 in Critical Reading, 514 in Mathematics and 488 in Writing, with each section allowing for a maximum score of 800.
"Data confirm that students who complete a core curriculum perform better on the SAT," College Board Director, Regional Communications, Leslie Sepuka told Education Dive by email. "Nationwide, SAT-takers in the class of 2012 who reported completing a core curriculum scored 144 points higher, on average, on the SAT."
Higher mean scores tended to occur in the Midwest, with Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin students among the top performers. A smaller percentage of students take the SAT in those states than in the Northeast and other areas, which likely contributes to their high averages.
"Another important thing to look at is participation," Sepuka explained. "It is common for mean scores to be lower when you have a large percentage of students participating—this is because you have more students of varied academic backgrounds represented in the college-going process."
Here is how the top ten mean scores among states broke down for the year for the three SAT sections:
Mean Critical Reading Scores
- Iowa — 603
- Illinois — 596
- Wisconsin — 594
- Minnesota — 592
- Missouri — 589
- South Dakota — 589
- North Dakota — 588
- Michigan — 586
- Kansas — 584
- Kentucky — 579
Mean Mathematics Scores
- Illinois — 615
- South Dakota — 610
- North Dakota — 610
- Iowa — 606
- Minnesota — 606
- Wisconsin — 605
- Michigan — 603
- Kansas — 594
- Missouri — 592
- Nebraska — 585
Mean Writing Scores
- Illinois — 587
- Iowa — 580
- Wisconsin — 577
- Missouri — 575
- Michigan — 574
- Minnesota — 573
- South Dakota — 570
- North Dakota — 568
- Kentucky — 566
- Tennessee — 566
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