Georgia’s SAT scores are down a third straight year, prompting educators and researchers to examine the problems and the turnaround strategies.
Alan Richard, a spokesman for the Southern Regional Education Board in Atlanta, said Georgia has needed to improve its scores for years, “and it’s not something that changes overnight.”
The average score for Georgia, released last week by the College Board, fell six points to 1,460. Nationally, it dipped two points to 1509.
There was good news with the bad. For example, black and Hispanic students in public schools in Georgia outperformed their counterparts nationally.
The scores also prompted warnings about the SAT’s meaning. Said Richard: “SAT test-takers are a self-selected population and thus do not constitute a representative sample of the state’s student body. We shouldn’t use the SAT scores as the end-all judgment about school quality in Georgia.”
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A breakdown of factors in Georgia's lagging SAT scores
Overall SAT scores
2009 (2008 score)
Georgia — 1,460 (1,466)
U.S. — 1,509 (1,511)
Breakdown in state
Writing — 479 (482)
Math — 491 (493)
Reading — 490 (491)
Georgia vs. North Carolina
Georgia and North Carolina have relatively similar demographics. Thirty-five percent of Georgia’s test-takers this year were Hispanic or African-American, compared with 27 percent of North Carolina’s test-takers. Yet North Carolina’s average score was 1486, 26 points higher than Georgia’s 1460.
The difference may hinge on the course load for North Carolina’s SAT test-takers. In North Carolina, 61 percent of the SAT test-takers took the more rigorous Advanced Placement English classes, compared with 37 percent in Georgia. Similarly, 50 percent in North Carolina also took AP math, compared with 31 percent in Georgia.
“This is a lesson Georgia can take away from the 2009 SAT scores. Preparation is critical,” said Susan Walker, the policy and research director for the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education. “The College Board emphasizes the relation of a rigorous curriculum to higher SAT scores.”
Rough spots
● Georgians scored 24 points below the national average in math. The hope is that a tougher math curriculum introduced in 2005 will help, but it won’t be fully tested until the 2012 class graduates.
● Georgia finished ahead of only South Carolina, Hawaii, Maine and the District of Columbia. “The best explanation for differences in state scores is that a confluence of factors are at play — demographics, socioeconomic levels and academic preparation,” said Walker of the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education.
● The achievement gap between white students and minorities in Georgia is wide. African-American test-takers, on average, scored 274 points below their white counterparts. The average for Hispanic students was 136 points lower than for whites. “This is the reality of achievement gaps that still plagues Georgia and much of the South,” Walker said.
High points
● While African-Americans in Georgia account for 30 percent of the students who took the SAT, nationally only 12.2 percent were African-American. The percentage in Georgia rose by 2.3 points over 2008.
● Minority students in Georgia public schools who took the test outscored their counterparts nationally. Students in Georgia scored 10 points above the national average for African-Americans of 1264. Hispanics in Georgia scored 66 points above the national average of 1346.
● Georgia’s mean score in math and reading has increased 12 points in 10 years. The national average in math and reading is unchanged in that period.
● Out of the 22 states with 50 percent or more students participating, Georgia is one of 12 that has seen a score increase in the past 10 years.
● Students who took the College Board’s official SAT online course, which they can access free through the state, scored 48 points higher than those who did not.
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