According to the College Board, the combined reading and math scores dropped this year from 1,028 to 1,021 – a decline of seven points from the previous year. The trend carried through in Maine, where scores dropped 12 points, from 1,014 to 1,002.

The College Board said the downward trend in test results was partly due to some students taking the newly lengthened test only once instead of twice. This year, the test included an essay portion for the first time.

In Maine, the College Board’s results were for high school seniors in the Class of 2006; they did not include SATs given to high school juniors, an assessment tool under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

Maine’s results for all three sections were lower than the national average with 501 in critical reading compared to 503 overall; 501 for math compared to 518 overall; and 491 in writing compared to 497 overall, according to the College Board.

Among other findings, students of religiously affiliated schools scored the highest in Maine with an average of 1,560; students in independent schools averaged 1,525; and public school students averaged 1,491, the College Board said.

In Maine, boys scored higher than girls, 1,510 to 1,480, the College Board said.

One good point was that Maine had a higher minority participation. There were gains in participation of 118 percent for Hispanics, 72 percent for blacks, 14.8 percent for American Indians, and 6.5 percent for Asians.