SAT Participation Increases while Average Scores Decrease

While a record number of Barrow County students took the SAT during the 2010-2011 school year, the average score for local students decreased.

Overall, 324 Barrow students took the SAT in 2011, up from 253 the previous year. The average score on the classic composite, which includes reading and mathematics but not writing, was 951, down nine points from 960 in 2009-10.

According to Barrow County Schools, average scores on the SAT decreased to a similar degree at the state and national levels during the same year.

The SAT is an examination taken by students planning to attend a college or university and, when combined with other types of data, can be used as a predictor for performance in college as a freshman.