* (The school system’s average SAT is estimated from the average scores of Coweta County’s three high schools and test-participation at the three schools.)

The writing portion of the exam was added in 2006, and verbal and math totals of the exam have been tracked for students since the exam was begun. An accompanying chart shows a 16-year history of the exam for Coweta County Schools.

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.

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 Georgia Department of Education also notes that student completion of a core curriculum and pursuit of rigorous course work are two critical components of college readiness, and the students who do so tend to perform better on the SAT. Georgia students who completed a core curriculum — defined as four or more years of English, three or more years of mathematics, three or more years of natural science, and three or more years of social science and history — did better on the SAT than those who did not complete a core curriculum.

All 2011 Georgia SAT Takers

Georgia's commitment to rigorous standards (Common Core Georgia Performance Standards) builds on the success that has been achieved using other rigorous curricula such as the Advanced Placement (AP) Program. Studies continue to show that students who score at least a 3 on an AP Exam in high school experience greater academic success in college and graduate from college at higher rates than their comparable, non-AP peers.

Georgia students who took English honors or AP courses scored 59 points higher in critical reading and 59 points higher in writing than the average for all Georgia SAT takers. 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.

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.

Average scores for all Georgia SAT takers declined compared to 2010 with average scores for critical reading down 3 points, mathematics down 2 points and writing down 1 point. When looking beyond year-to-year comparisons at longer-term trends, critical reading scores are down 7 points, mathematics scores down 5 points and writing scores are down 8 points since 2007. Public school mean scores have followed a similar trend, with critical reading and mathematics scores down 6 points and writing scores down 9 points since 2007.

The state Department of Education also noted that minority students in Georgia's public schools continue to outperform their peers across the country on the SAT. The 2011 SAT report shows that African-American and Hispanic students in Georgia's public schools are outperforming those subgroups nationally.