SAT SCORES: Mont. Students Top National Average in SAT Scores

HELENA – The state's top education official says Montana students continue to score higher than the national average on the annual SAT college entrance exam.

State Superintendent Linda McCulloch said Tuesday that Montana students scored on average a 541 in reading compared to a national average of 502.

In math, Montana topped the national average 548 to 515. In writing, the state's students scored a 523 compared to the national average of 494.

McCulloch says the results show Montana students are performing well despite disappointing results in recent benchmarks set by the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

The report comes a week after state officials said Montana students performed better than the national average on the ACT test, a similar college entrance exam.

About 24 percent of eligible Montana students took this year's SAT exam, far fewer than took the ACT test.