Colorado high school students scored significantly better than the national average on the SAT college-entrance exam in 2005, but a lower percentage of students took the test, according to results released Tuesday.
Colorado students received an average score of 560 on both the verbal and math sections of the test, said the College Board, the nonprofit organization that owns the SAT. The national average was 508 on the verbal section and 520 on the math.
About one-quarter of Colorado seniors from public and private high schools took the test, compared with a national participation rate of 49 percent, the Colorado Department of Education said.
Scores in Colorado improved slightly from 2004, when the average verbal score was 554 and the average math score was 553.
About 12,000 students took the test.
Nationally, students earned the highest- ever math score. But the results showed significant gaps between racial groups.
In Colorado, 74 percent of test-takers were white, the Colorado Department of Education said. The average score for white students was 564 for verbal and math. The average score for black students was 487 for verbal and 468 for math, and the average score for Mexican-American students was 527 for verbal and 525 for math.
