Nevadans beat national average

Tuesday, Sept. 1, 1998 | 11:02 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Nevada students are getting better at math.

After two straight years of trailing the national average in math on the Scholastic Aptitude Test, Nevada seniors scored slightly higher than average for 1998.

The state Department of Education Monday released the SAT results of 4,233 Nevada college-bound high school seniors. They scored an average of 513 on the math portion of the examination compared with the nation's average of 512.

"I'm especially pleased to see our average score in mathematics rise above the national average," said Mary Peterson, state superintendent of public instruction.

In 1996, Nevada students averaged 507 on the SAT's math portion -- a number that rose only slightly to 509 in 1997. This year male students scored 535 on the math portion, up nine points, while females remained at 496, the same as 1997.

Nevada high school students also scored higher on the verbal portion of the exam, 510 compared to the national average of 505. This is at least the third straight year the state's students outpaced the national average in verbal skills.

Male students out-performed females on the verbal test as well averaging 515 compared to 506.

Last week results from the American College Testing Program, another exam taken by students going to college, also showed Nevada students scoring higher than the nation's average.

"Nevada's education efforts at the local and state levels have focused on helping our students learn more and perform even better than the average student across the country," Peterson said.

"The college board report provides another indicator of Nevada's capacity to provide quality educational services to students -- an indicator that reflects well on the abilities of these college-bound graduates and the efforts of their parents and teachers over the years."