DARIEN, Conn. Dariens SAT scores dropped slightly for the class of 2012 but stayed well above state and national averages.
Darien students scored an average of 606 on math SATs in 2012, 579 in reading and 579 in writing. These scores are lower than last year, when Darien scored an average of 617 in math, 589 in reading and 604 in writing.
Connecticut students in 2012 averaged 512 in math, 506 in reading and 510 in writing. Across the nation, the average scores in math, reading and writing were 514, 496 and 488 respectively.
Weve done quite well and well continue to do quite well, said Assistant Superintendent Matthew Byrnes in a presentation on test scores at Tuesdays Board of Education meeting. Byrnes said that the district uses these scores, as well as CMT, CAPT and ACT scores, to make sure that students are progressing over time.
Its important to emphasize that these are only a snapshot, he said. Its only a small part of what we do here, but at the same time we use these to generate questions.
For example, eighth-grade students have consistently scored on their reading CMT tests, averaging 95.8 in 2012. However, by the time students take the reading CAPT test in their sophomore year, scores tend to drop. Darien students averaged 75 on the reading CAPT in 2012.
Byrnes said that the district looked into those numbers and saw that students who scored high on the CMT but low on the CAPT typically did better on the Response to Literature section than the Reading for Information section, and that he will be working with both English and social studies teachers to work on improving the Reading for Information scores.
Byrnes also noted that ACT scores dipped a little bit this year, but said that is a result of more students taking the test than previously. He said that since more colleges are accepting ACTs instead of SATs, they will encourage more students to take the test. He expects the scores to rise in the future.
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