Five DeKalb Schools Score Higher ACTs Than State Average

Five DeKalb high schools earned ACT average scores higher than the state's overall average, according to figures released Wednesday by the Georgia Department of Education.

Chamblee Charter High School; the DeKalb School of the Arts; Druid Hills High School; Dunwoody High School; and Lakeside High School scored higher average ACT scores than Georgia's average of 21.1.

Overall, Georgia’s students showed marked improvement on the ACT in 2016, increasing the state’s average composite score and the percentage of students meeting the ACT College Readiness Benchmarks, even as the national average decreased and the number of Georgia students taking the ACT went up.

Georgia’s average composite score of 21.1 was higher, for the first time in state history, than the national average of 20.8.

Here's a look at how DeKalb's schools performed, listing the number of test takers and the school's average composite score:

ARABIA MOUNTAIN HIGH SCHOOL

• 236
• 20

CEDAR GROVE HIGH SCHOOL

• 104
• 17

CHAMBLEE CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL

• 166
• 24.8

CLARKSTON HIGH SCHOOL

• 83
• 16.5

COLUMBIA HIGH SCHOOL

• 118
• 16.7

CROSS KEYS HIGH SCHOOL

• 23
• 17.7

DEKALB EARLY COLLEGE ACADEMY

• 40
• 20.5

DEKALB SCHOOL OF THE ARTS

• 50
• 24.9

• 16
• 16.1

• 116
• 21.3

• 199
• 23.2

• 264
• 23.1

• 96
• 16.4

• 133
• 16.6

• 57
• 16.5

• 144
• 17

REDAN HIGH SCHOOL

• 124
• 16.9

• 148
• 18.3

• 140
• 17.3

• 56
• 17.4

• 99
• 16.1

• 171
• 19.1

Georgia outperformed the nation in English, reading, and science as well, and scored the same as the national average in mathematics.

Georgia had 58,073 ACT test takers in 2016, compared to 54,653 in the graduating class of 2015 – a 5.9 percent increase. Since 2012, the number of ACT test takers has increased by more than 10,000 students, from 47,169 in 2012 to 58,072 in 2016.

Georgia students’ average composite score rose from 21 in 2015 to 21.1 in 2016, with most subject area scores increasing as well: from 20.6 to 20.7 in English, 21.6 to 21.8 in reading, and 20.9 to 21 in science. The score for mathematics held steady at 20.6.

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