Fulton County SAT Scores Hold Steady

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The Fulton County School System has more schools with high SAT performance than any other district in Georgia and is ranked third in overall SAT score, according to results released on Tuesday by the College Board.

Six Fulton schools also are among the top 20 highest scoring schools in the state, and 10 schools reported increased scores from the previous year, the system said in a press release late Tuesday evening.

In addition, Fulton has the state’s second highest math score and is tied for first for the writing section.

“Our district’s overall score stayed constant this year, but most of our high schools saw increases,” said Superintendent Robert Avossa. “More than 80 percent of our class of 2014 took the SAT. I’m glad to see our participation rates grow, especially among our minority student populations.”

District scores continue to exceed state, nation

Fulton’s 2014 scores remained constant at 1567, while the state and national scores fell seven points (1445) and one point (1497), respectively.

Fulton students surpassed their Georgia counterparts by 32 points in reading, 45 points in math and 45 points in writing, for an overall total of 122 points above the state average.

Students also passed their national peers in reading by 23 points, in math by 17 points and in writing by 30 points. Overall, Fulton exceeded the national average by 70 points.

Participation often plays a part in how scores rise or fall. Statistically, as proportions of students taking the SAT increase, scores tend to drop. In Fulton, while the total score remained the same as last year, the percent of students taking the SAT increased by two percentage points to 82 percent of graduates participating. By comparison, the national participation rate has remained steady at 52 percent, and Georgia’s participation rate is 77 percent.

In addition, with 4,996 students taking the test, Fulton has the fourth highest number of test-takers in the state.

“Only two other districts have higher SAT scores than Fulton and both have almost 3,000 to 4,800 fewer students taking the test,” Avossa said. “For a district of our diversity and size, our scores are consistently high which shows how hard our schools are working to prepare students.”

Achievement gap closing

Students who are typically underrepresented in higher education – African American, Native American and Hispanic/Latino students – made up 39 percent of all 2014 SAT test-takers in Fulton County Schools.

In particular, Fulton’s African American students showed a seven-point score increase, going from a total score of 1312 in 2013 to a total score of 1319 in 2014. The performance of this student population has increased 16 points in the past two years, showing promising results toward closing the achievement gap.

Six schools rank within the Top 20

Although rankings are not officially released, data shows that six schools in Fulton are among the highest-scoring schools in Georgia.

• Northview High School – 1779 (No. 3)
• Alpharetta High School – 1704 (No. 6)
• Johns Creek High School – 1691 (No. 8)
• Chattahoochee High School – 1680 (No. 9)
• Milton High School – 1654 (No. 12)
• Roswell High School – 1653 (No. 14)

While Northview technically ranks third in the state, the higher-scoring schools had only six and 180 students, respectively, taking the test. By comparison, 468 Northview students took the SAT in 2014.

Individual schools’ scores increase

Ten schools reported increases from the previous year, including Cambridge High School, which posted a 62-point gain. Seven other schools had double-digit gains: Fulton Science Academy High School (40 points), Alpharetta High School (32 points), Hapeville Career Academy (31 points), Tri-Cities High School (30 points), Creekside High School (22 points), Centennial High School (17 points) and Chattahoochee High School (13).

Students earn perfect scores

In addition, one recent Fulton graduate earned a perfect 2400 score on the reading, math and writing sections of the exam, and seven graduates had perfect scores (1600) on the reading and math sections.

Twenty-eight percent of Fulton students scored at least 600 on the math section and 61 students received a perfect score of 800. Likewise, one-third of test-takers scored at least 600 on the reading or writing sections, with 38 students scoring a perfect score in reading and 45 students scoring a perfect score in writing.

Scores for individual schools are attached in the .PDF document below.