FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2001

Madison Students Better State and National SAT Scores

Once again Madison high school students have scored significantly above the state and national averages on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). The district's student average composite score is over 4 percent higher than the composite average for Wisconsin students, and over 20 percent higher than the national average.

Madison students' composite score is 1229, well over the state composite of 1180, and significantly over the national average of 1020.

Madison students score 30 points (5%) higher than their state peers in math (626 to 596), and 19 points (3%) higher in the verbal component (603 to 584). Compared to students taking the SAT at the national level, MMSD students are 112 points higher in math (626 to 514, 21%) and 97 points higher in verbal (603 to 506, 19%).

The SAT is a standardized collegiate admissions exam, made up of verbal and math sections, with each section worth a possible 800 points for a total of 1600.

The ACT college entrance examination continues to be more popular with Madison students, with approximately 70% of seniors taking it, compared to about 27% of seniors for the SAT.

Madison students taking the ACT also outperformed their state and national peers by 8 percent and 14 percent respectively in results released earlier this month.

COMPOSITE
Year      Madison   Wisconsin US
2000-01   1229      1180      1020
1999-00   1257      1181      1019
1998-99   1248      1179      1016
1997-98   1254      1175      1017
1996-97   1247      1169      1016
1995-96   1229      1163      1013
1994-95   1219      1159      1010

VERBAL
Year      Madison   Wisconsin US
2000-01   603       584       506
1999-00   618       584       505
1998-99   609       584       505
1997-98   614       581       505
1996-97   616       579       505
1995-96   608       577       505
1994-95   600       574       504

MATH
Year      Madison   Wisconsin US
2000-01   626       596       514
1999-00   639       597       514
1998-99   639       595       511
1997-98   640       594       512
1996-97   631       590       511
1995-96   621       586       508
1994-95   619       585       506

Madison Metropolitan School District

Public Information Office
545 W. Dayton St.
Madison, WI 53703
608-663-1879
email: newsrelease@madison.k12.wi.us

Last Modified: 2001-08-28
HTML Editor & Publisher: Chris Burch, cburch@madison.k12.wi.us
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