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SAT scores down in '08
Local average score beats state average fourth straight year
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Published: August 27, 2008
The average total SAT score dropped four points in 2008 for students in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, according to results released yesterday. Students scored an average total of 1,497, down from 1,501 in 2007.
The average total includes all sections of the test: critical reading, math and writing.
The highest possible score is 2,400.
The local score ranked above the North Carolina average for the fourth consecutive year, school-system officials said.
The state average total was 1,489 for 2008, and the national average total was 1,511.
Forsyth students' critical-reading and math score slipped for the third consecutive year, dropping to 1,009, down from 1,013 in 2007 and 1,016 in 2006.
Critical reading, which was called the verbal section of the SAT, and math were the only sections of the test until 2005, when the SAT was revised to include a writing section.
The writing section requires students to write a short essay and answer multiple-choice grammar questions. The math section was also changed in 2005 to include college-preparatory math.
The SAT is not a part of the state's standard course of study. The test is a widely accepted college-admissions test and is required by most colleges and universities in the state.
"We have never placed a great emphasis on the importance of SAT scores as a district performance measure, and so we see both increases and decreases in the scores as part of the differences in individual test-takers from year to year," Superintendent Don Martin said.
Mount Tabor High School had the highest average total in the school system, at1,620. Atkins High School's School of Pre-Engineering had the lowest average total at 1,169.
SAT scores across the state increased, bringing the state average for critical-reading and math within 10 points of the nation's critical-reading and math average.
North Carolina's average critical-reading and math score this year rose to 1,007, up from 1004 in 2006. The nation's average for the critical-reading and math sections this year was 1,017.
The state superintendent of public instruction, June Atkinson, said in a statement that state officials are extremely pleased with state average critical-reading and math score.
"Students have been working diligently and challenging themselves with higher-level courses," Atkinson said. "This strategy takes time, but is effective. In 1998, it seemed we would never reach the national average. Today, that goal is within sight."
The state average mean 10 years ago was 982, 35 points below the national average at the time.
Fewer students across the nation took the SAT in the 2007-08 school year.
Forty-five percent of all students in the United States took the SAT last school year, down from 48 percent in the 2006-07 school year.
In North Carolina, 63 percent of all students took the SAT last school year, down from 71 percent, and in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, 65 percent of seniors took the SAT, down from 66 percent.
Winston-Salem Preparatory Academy and Atkins High School's schools of Biotechnology, Computer Technology and Pre-engineering posted SAT scores for the first time this year. The schools did not post scores last year because neither had a senior class in 2007.
Students in Atkins' biotechnology school had an average total score of 1,186. Students in the computer-technology school had an average total score of 1,211. Students in the pre-engineering school had an average total score of 1,169.
Winston-Salem Preparatory students had an average total score of 1,319.
Carver High School students' combined math, reading and writing score was 1,172, a 20-point drop from 2007.
Forsyth Middle College, a program in which students can take classes at Forsyth Technical Community College while earning high-school credits, had 12 students take the SAT last school year. The students' average total was 1,598.
East Forsyth, Mount Tabor, Reagan, Reynolds and West Forsyth high schools average totals increased this year.
SAT average scores varied across the region. Surry County students boasted the largest increase from the previous year, a 74-point rise from an average total of 1,426 to 1,500.
Watauga County students had the second-highest increase in the region, scoring an average total of 1,629, up from 1,593 in 2007.
Lexington City students averaged 1,299, a 34-point increase over 2007.
■ Lisa Boone-Wood can be reached at 727-7232 or at
lboone-wood@wsjournal.com.
How they fared
Here are the average SAT scores for the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County high schools and a comparison with the previous school year.
School - 2007-08 - 2006-07
Atkins Computer Tech* - 1,211 - --
Atkins Biotech* - 1,186 - --
Atkins Pre-Engineering* - 1,169 - --
Carver - 1,172 - 1,196
East Forsyth - 1,573 - 1,530
Glenn - 1,410 - 1,428
Forsyth Middle College - 1,598 - 1,518
Mount Tabor - 1,620 - 1,615
North Forsyth - 1,346 - 1,412
Parkland - 1,284 - 1,294
Reagan - 1,609 - 1,492
Reynolds - 1,608 - 1,590
West Forsyth - 1,608 - 1,604
Winston-Salem Prep** - 1,319 - --
District - 1,497 - 1,501
*The scores for Atkins High School are separated by its three academies and were only recorded last
** Winston-Salem Prep recorded its first SAT results last year.
Source: N.C. Department of Public Instruction
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