SAT scores for 2011 are in and Coweta County students from East Coweta High, Northgate High and Newnan High averaged 1,485 combined points, besting the state average by 40 points. The county’s high scorers were from Northgate High School where the average score from the three-section test totaled 1,525 points.
The SAT includes test sections on Math, Verbal and Writing. Coweta students taking the SAT in 2011 averaged a total of 1,485 combined points. That puts Coweta students 40 points above the state average and 15 points shy of the national average.
The maximum score for each of the three sections is 800 points.
Verbal Math Writing Totals
East Coweta High 486 494 474 1,454
Newnan High 498 501 488 1,487
Northgate High 514 521 490 1,525
Coweta average 498 504 483 1,485
Georgia 485 487 473 1,445
Nation 497 514 489 1,500
School system spokesperson Dean Jackson said Coweta high schools saw similar participation levels, with 770 students taking the SAT during the year. All three high schools saw increases in the number of students taking the test in 2011.
The writing portion of the exam was added in 2006. Verbal and math totals of the exam have been tracked for students since the exam was begun.
The Georgia Department of Education noted that 2011 saw the largest and most diverse group of graduating seniors in Georgia’s history take the SAT. The SAT participation rate for the Georgia class of 2011 was 80 percent, a six percent increase from last year, placing Georgia fifth in the nation in the percentage of high school seniors taking the SAT, said Jackson.
Jackson said it is common for mean scores to decline when the number of students taking an exam increases because more students of varied academic backgrounds are represented in the test-taking pool. As the number of SAT takers in Georgia has increased 18 percent among all students and 19 percent among public school students since 2007, score declines like Georgia has experienced can be expected, he said.
Georgia students who took English honors or Advanced Placement courses scored 59 points higher in critical reading and 59 points higher in writing than the average for all Georgia SAT takers, Jackson said. Similarly, Georgia students taking math honors or AP courses had an 80-point advantage compared to the average SAT mathematics scores for the state. Georgia students who took natural sciences, social sciences and history honors or AP courses also scored significantly higher on each section of the SAT than the average for all Georgia SAT takers, said Jackson.
