Feds OK the SAT for state test

Kennebec Journal, May 1, 2008

(excerpt) Maine's use of the SAT college entrance exam as an achievement test -- part of a state effort to get more high school students thinking about college -- has gained final federal approval.

Maine has been using the SAT for the past three years to determine whether high school juniors are meeting state achievement standards.

Initially, the U.S. Department of Education withheld approval of Maine's use of the exam, citing concerns that it did not adequately test students on Maine's learning standards.

Maine education officials added 18 math questions to the test, and the change satisfied federal regulators.

Maine joins 29 other states with achievement tests now approved under the No Child Left Behind Act, a 2002 federal law aimed at making schools more accountable for students educational achievement.

Maine is the only state in the nation using the SAT. It was selected in the hope that more students would pursue a postsecondary education if they took the SAT before leaving high school.