SAT scores for 2020 grads released. Here are results for Columbus area high schools

Despite local, state and national averages decreasing, the Muscogee County School District for the second straight year has outperformed the state average and stretched its margin over the national average on the SAT college entrance exam.

MCSD’s class of 2020 average score of 1048 is 8 points lower than 2019, but remains above the Georgia average of 1043, which fell by 5 points, and the national average of 1030, which fell by 9 points.

Although the College Board, which administers the SAT, reported that the number of test-takers (nearly 2.2 million) in the class of 2020 remained level with 2019, MCSD and Georgia Department of Education officials say the coronavirus pandemic contributed to a significant decline in their participation rates.

For example, the percentage of MCSD students who took the SAT in this year’s graduating class is 5 percentage points lower than last year: 43% (840 out of 1,985) in 2020, compared to 48% (980 out of 2,053) in 2019.

The GaDOE reported a similar decline: 64% of public-school graduates in the class of 2020 took the SAT during high school, compared to 67% in the class of 2019.

“As with other facets of education, the administration of the SAT was met with challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic,” MCSD superintendent David Lewis said in the district’s news release. “Several test administration dates were canceled, and many sites were inaccessible, which impacted our students’ abilities to attempt tests or retake tests to improve scores. However, despite those challenges, we are pleased to see once again our district surpassed state and national averages in reading and writing and overall composite scores.”

The disruption of instruction in March, when schools closed their campuses and went to online-only classes for the rest of the spring semester, also might have contributed to the decline in SAT participation and performance.

“The class of 2020 has faced unprecedented adversity and uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” state superintendent Richard Woods said in the GaDOE’s news release. “Given all they have overcome, I am so proud of these students for becoming the third graduating class in Georgia history to beat the national average on the SAT.”

Harris County

Harris County High School’s average SAT score declined by 5 points to 1065 in the class of 2020 compared to 2019, but it remains above the averages for Muscogee County, Georgia and the U.S., and it trails only Columbus among local high schools.

The number of HCHS students taking the SAT increased by 12 to 146 in the class of 2020 compared to 2019.

Chattahoochee County

Chattahoochee County’s class of 2020 improved the district’s SAT composite score by 11 points compared to 2019, from 898 to 909. Its number of test-takers remained relatively the same (102 in 2020; 103 in 2019).

ChattCo superintendent told the L-E in an emailed interview that she remains concerned that the district’s score still trails the state average.

“We continue to work towards building critical thinking skills necessary for dissecting informational text such as analyzing key details and making inferences,” she said. “As we incorporate specific strategies in our ELA classes to help students increase academic language and vocabulary, the expectation is that our students will apply these higher level reading skills to become college and career ready.”

Encouraging her, Brooks said, is the increase in test-takers since 2018, when 85 ChattCo seniors took the SAT. She also noted ChattCo increased the percentage of test-takers who are eligible for SAT fee waivers, from 8% to 16%, meaning more of them are overcoming the barriers of poverty to enter college.

“This indicates to us that our students are gaining the skills and confidence needed as support in navigating a path toward higher education and more skilled employment, which is required in today’s global economy,” she said. “I am very proud that our students continue to work hard to represent the profile of a ChattCo graduate. This is evident in their gaining a stronger academic base, displaying valuable work skills and being a future driven young adult. “

LOCAL COMPARISON OF SAT COMPOSITE SCORES

Notes: The years in the chart represent the average scores of the students in that school’s or that group’s graduating class, not necessarily when they took the test. They are ranked here in order of their class of 2020 scores. “Too few” in the chart means that school didn’t have the minimum of 25 test-takers for an average score to be reported. Rainey-McCullers School of the Arts, which opened in 2017, didn’t have a senior class until 2020.

This story was originally published September 11, 2020 at 3:34 PM.

Mark Rice

Columbus Ledger-Enquirer

706-576-6272

Mark Rice is the Ledger-Enquirer’s editor. He has been covering Columbus and the Chattahoochee Valley for more than 30 years. He welcomes your local news tips, feature story ideas, investigation suggestions and compelling questions.