Cape Elizabeth 11th graders are readying for the SAT, to be delivered April 1.

While in past years that may not be news, what's new this year is that all high school juniors in the state will be taking the national college board exams, whether they personally plan to attend college or not.

The State Department of Education this year has decided to replace the traditional Maine Educational Assessment, measure of academic achievement for the last 14 years on Maine, with the Scholastic Aptitude Test at the 11th grade level.

"For Cape Elizabeth, I think probably this will be a good move," said Superintendent Alan Hawkins at the Oct. 11 School Board meeting.

Approximately 92 percent of Cape Elizabeth High School students take the SAT anyway, Hawkins said.

The same guidelines that govern the MEA would apply to the SAT, Hawkins said, including the expectation to meet or exceed achievement standards, and to meet participation requirements.

Hawkins said that the Department of Education is supposed to bear the cost of the test, "but there are many more quesitions to be answered."

For example, who will be responsible for, and pay for, transportation to school on a Saturday when the test is administered? And, how will SAT prep courses that some students use to prepare for the tests be handled?

"These questions will need to be dealt with by the Department of Education before April 1," Hawkins said.

While not all questions have been answered, High School Principal Jeff Shedd said that the move does address one problem he has always had with the MEA. "We judge schools by the one external standard that kids have no stake in," Shedd told members of the board. "One way or the other, it makes absolutely no difference to them whether they do well or poorly on the MEA," he said. At least the SAT is a test that students will take seriously, Shedd said.

The SAT is used by most colleges and universities as a requirement for admission.