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BCHS seniors improve SAT scores
The average score on the standardized test for college admissions in 2007 was 1,353, while last year the average score was 1,334. The averages are calculated using the scores of seniors who took the test during the last administration. That included 95 seniors this year and 86 last year. BCHS principal Wayne Hickman was proud of their performance on the test and was quick to point out that teaching improvement in all grade levels helped the students test well. "Instructional strategies system wide, not just at the high school, are paying dividends each and every year," he said. Hickman also pointed to the SAT prep course provided by the state and to the more difficult course loads students are choosing. Students can take the SAT prep course on the computer either at school or anywhere else they have an internet connection. "Even more than that, though," Hickman said, "students have chosen to take more rigorous courses to prepare themselves for college." They are signing up for optional, upper level classes in addition to the ones they need to graduate. Despite Burke County's gains on the SAT, local scores remain below the state average, which fell five points to 1,472 this year. Burke County ranks 246 among 346 public high schools reporting scores through the Georgia Department of Education. Georgia is ranked 46th in the nation for SAT scores. On another standardized test for college admission, the ACT, BCHS students recorded a slight drop this year. The average score fell from 18.1 in 2006 to 17.4 in 2007. Only 12 seniors took the test. Far fewer local students opt to take the ACT, a much less common test used in southern colleges and universities, according to Allen Kicklighter, Burke County Public Schools director of testing. "With so few students taking the ACT, one student can skew your numbers a good deal one way or the other," Kicklighter said. |
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