Coweta County school students have outscored their predecessors on the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test), with 2009 scores coming in at the highest ever. The average 2009 SAT score increased to 1,516, a one-point increase over last year’s county-wide average. That score puts Coweta County’s average score 7 points over the national average on the college admissions test.

The 2009 test results represented the second year in a row that Coweta County outscored the national average on the SAT. School system Public Information Officer Dean Jackson said the national average SAT score dropped 2 points this year, to 1509, and the state of Georgia’s average declined by 6 points, to 1460, during the same period. Overall, said Jackson, Coweta County’s 2009 test-takers scored 56 points above the state average on the SAT.

“This is outstanding news for all three high schools. I congratulate our high school juniors and seniors who took the exam,” said Superintendent Blake Bass. “This is the second year in a row that our school system’s average SAT score exceeded the national average. 2009 was also the second year in a row that the Coweta County’s SAT average increased while state and national average scores decreased.”

Jackson reported that SAT averages for Northgate High School and Newnan High School remained above the national average in 2009. Northgate High School saw the biggest improvement on average SAT scores, increasing 22 points to an average score of 1542.

All three Coweta high schools improved their overall SAT Math scores in 2009, with an increase of 8 points in the county-wide SAT Math average. In 2009, Coweta County SAT test-takers scored an average of 1 point higher than the national average on the Math section of the exam, 10 points higher than the national average on the Verbal section of the test, and 4 points lower than the national average on the Writing section.

“I think this demonstrates that our students are well-prepared to enter college and compete on a national level,” said Bass.  “I think it also demonstrates that as the rigor of our curriculum continues to increase, students and teachers are proving that they are up to the challenge.”

Overall, the scores reported to Coweta County high schools were:

Verbal Math Verbal
& Math Writing Total
Score East Coweta 504 511 1015 479 1494 Newnan 510 515 1025 493 1518 Northgate 522 522 1044 498 1542 Coweta average 511 516 1027 489 1516 Nation 501 515 1016 493 1509 Georgia 490 491 981 479 1460