Salem High SAT Scores Show Improvement

The Salem School Board heard a presentation at their Tuesday night meeting regarding 2011 SAT scores showing students have improved on the test over the last five years.

SHS Guidance Director Heidi Greenlaw said the 356 students who took the exam in 2011 scored an average of 503 on critical reading, 513 on math and 502 on writing. Each section is out of 800 points.

Greenlaw explained that over a five year period, the writing score has increased 11 points, critical reading is up 12 points and math is up 16. Greenlaw said the school is "pleased" with these results.

The SHS scores are in line with state public school averages for SAT scores of 514 for critical reading, 516 for math and 502 for writing. The national averages are 494 for critical reading, 506 for math and 483 for writing.

Greenlaw said 69 percent of the SHS Class of 2011 went on to four-year colleges while 18 percent went on to two-year colleges.

ACT scores for 2011 were also presented by Greenlaw, showing a composite score of 23.7 out of 36, up 0.3 points from last year. That is the exact same score as the state average with a 21.1 national average.

"The ACT is more content-based while the SAT is more about critical thinking and problem solving," Greenlaw said.