(KLIX) - Idaho students are smarter than the national average, at least when it comes to test results.

“Nearly one third of Idaho high school students chose to take the ACT, and they outperformed their peers across the nation,” Superintendent of Public Instruction Sherri Ybarra said in a statement on Wednesday.

It was the same day that test results were released about the state's ACT scores.

“Significantly, 87 percent of students taking the assessment reported they intend to pursue post-secondary education," she said.

Of the approximately 20,000 Idaho public school students in the class of 2019, 5,782 took the ACT college entry exam.

Ybarra said ACT results for the state's 2019 graduating class show consistently higher performance than the national average, and contribute to the continuing conversation about Idaho students’ college readiness.

Fifty percent of students who took the ACT met three or four benchmarks, which are in English, math, reading and science. That’s more than the national average of 37 percent, according to the education department.

Other takeaways from this year’s results, released Wednesday the department said, include:

  • 72 percent of Idaho graduates met the ACT English benchmark, compared to 59 percent nationally
  • 50 percent met the ACT math benchmark, compared to 39 percent nationally
  • 59 percent met the ACT reading benchmark, compared to 45 percent nationally
  • 47 percent met the ACT science benchmark, compared to 37 percent nationally

“Far too often when great news about student achievement comes in, we forget to give credit where it’s due, to our teachers,” Ybarra said. “Today’s results show an incredible commitment by educators in Idaho in preparing students for college or careers.”

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