Grades are In: States with the Smartest Drivers

From Insurify Insights, May 13, 2019 (excerpts)

Many insurance companies use high GPAs as indicators that one is a safe driver, and therefore less likely to file a costly claim in the future. Once they predict that a driver will be less expensive to insure, they offer them a coveted good student discount….

• National averages. Nationwide, the average grade point average is 3.23. On a four-point scale, a 4.0 represents a student whose coursework earned straight As, and a 3.0 indicates a pupil who earned a B average. Additionally, the national average graduation rate is 84.6 percent, the mean ACT score is 20.8 out of 36, the average SAT score is 1068 out of 1600, and the national truancy rate is seven percent.
• ACT and SAT are regional giants. There is a moderate inverse correlation between mean scores on the SAT and ACT per state. This means that states with a high average score on one test tend to perform somewhat less optimally on the other. However, this is not due to the fact that these exams test markedly different skill sets—individual students who perform well on one tend to score highly on the other as well. It is a result of each standardized assessment being popular in separate regions. The SAT has historically dominated the coasts while the ACT has held favor in the Midwest. The gap in state averages on these evaluations likely reflect different relationships with one test compared to the other and not a gulf in aptitude.
• Performance is a package deal. All of the factors reported here—GPA, standardized test scores, graduation rates, and school attendance—are interrelated. Those states with higher graduation rates and lower truancy also witness relatively stronger grades and standardized test scores. Successful schools require strong investment in students on multiple fronts.

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4. Hawaii

• Average GPA: 3.277
• High School Graduation Rate: 82.7%
• Average ACT Score: 18.9
• Average SAT Score: 1099
• Percentage of teens who are neither working nor in school: 9%

As one of the states in the direst need of road repair according to TRIP, Hawaii drivers have to be smart when navigating unmaintained rural roadways. Luckily, their reported average GPA ranks them amongst the top five smartest states in the country. Unfortunately, the good news ends there.

Hawaii has the lowest mean ACT score on this list and the fifth lowest in the United States. Additionally, the state has one of the highest truancy rates in America—nearly 30 percent higher than the national average.

(IQ Test: What does this contradiction tell you about the HSTA and DoE?)