More than 18,000 Idaho juniors are expected to take the SAT college entrance exam today – with the state picking up the tab.

This year, 18,886 juniors registered to take the test, which would correspond to nearly 94 percent of the 20,177 juniors identified in official fall enrollment counts from the beginning of this school year.

Since 2012, the state has paid for students to take the tests through a contract with the College Board. This year, the state is paying $1,092,970 for the tests. That amount also covers the costs for sophomores to take the PSAT and for students to take the Accuplacer, instead of the SAT, State Department of Education spokeswoman Melissa McGrath said.

The number of students taking the SAT has increased in each year the state sponsored spring test days. In 2012, 16,566 students took the test, with that number increasing to 17,306 last year.

Last year, the average SAT scores for Idaho juniors were 452 in both critical reading and math, and 446 in writing.

Scores of 500 or better in each subject indicate a student is likely to be successful in postsecondary education. Possible scores  for each subject range between 200 and 800.

High school juniors are required to take a college entrance exam as part of their graduation requirements, but they don’t have to take the SAT. They could instead take the ACT, but they would have to do so on their own dime.

Blaine County naming finalists for superintendents post

The Blaine County School District Board of Trustees will name its finalists for a new superintendent by Tuesday, April 22.

The trustees are hosting an event for the public to meet the final candidates at the Distance Learning Lab at Wood River High School. The meeting on April 22 will be begin at 6:00 p.m.

The meeting will include an opportunity for the public to hear from each of the final candidates.  Feedback forms will be provided to the public and public feedback will be one of the factors trustees will use in making their final selection.

The trustees could select from two to five finalists in the coming days. The trustees plan to name a superintendent by April 25.

Blaine County has been without a superintendent since September 2013, when Lonnie Barber resigned.

Teachers receive surprise tech grants from CenturyLink

Several teachers across the state were the surprise recipients of technology grants this week.

The State Department of Education and CenturyLink have partnered to provide the awards, with CenturyLink Vice President and General Manager for Idaho Jim Schmit presenting the awards.

Over the past nine years, they have awarded about $650,000 to Idaho school for technology in classrooms.

Some of this week’s winners include:

• Cara Sonnemann, Pocatello Community Charter School, $4,900 to purchase 12 Chromebooks, two scanners and a storage cart to benefit seventh and eighth graders.
• Jayna Eichelberger, Middleton Heights Elementary School, Meridian, $5,000 for 10 iPad minis, a Macbook Pro laptop and a charging cart for a mobile learning lab.
• Molly Stump, Pioneer School of the Arts, Boise, $4,995 for nne Lenovo Thinkpad Laptops.
• Kimberly Brown, Pioneer School of the Arts, Boise, $2,550 for five iPads and an Apple TV to help students conduct animal research and share digital stories.
• Carolyn K. Brenner and Michelle Mayfield, Prospect Elementary, Meridian, $4,747 for 11 iPad minis for fourth and fifth grade students working on math and language arts.
• Donald R Eberlin, Jr., Mountain View High School, $5,000 to purchase 96 student Clickets for his classroom.