South Carroll High School scored the highest among the county?s high schools on the new 2006 SAT, and Century High School had one of the highest number of students taking the test.
At South Carroll High, the average score was 1564 with 52 percent of students taking the test.
“I am happy about it,” said South Carroll High Principal Eric King, who attributed the high scores to a focus on content for advanced placement tests and federal High School Assessments.
“It?s a residue of the things we do every day to be a good school,” he said. “It all goes hand in hand.”
Seventy-three percent of students at Century High took the test, and officials for the school said that the high percentage of test-takers often leads to a lower average score. Century?s average score was 1544.
“Generally, with the higher percent of students taking the test, the tendency is for scores to come closer to the average,” said Greg Bricca, director of research and accountability.
The county?s average score of 1535 was higher than the Maryland average of 1511 and the national average of 1518.
This is the first year that scores on the new SAT, which includes a writing test, were reported, making it hard to compare the scores to previous years.
The SATs are a general measure of performance, Bricca said, rather than an assessment directly tied to curriculum such as the HSAs or the AP tests.
This means it?s harder to determine why certain schools score higher in some areas.
However, school officials can encourage students as early as middle school to consider college, so they will be more inclined to prepare for the SAT and take rigorous courses, Bricca said.
To help better prepare students who take the test, all Carroll County schools this year will offer the PSAT for free to all 10th graders, said Sherri-Le Bream, director of high schools.
The test also will be offered mid-week, rather than on a Saturday.
The preliminary test would give schools information to guide test prep for the SAT, she said.
2006 SAT Scores
Century
Critical Reading 313
Math 528
Writing 503
Total 1,544
Percent taking 73
Percent males 45
Percent females 55
Liberty
Critical Reading 514
Math 530
Writing 502
Total 1,546
Percent taking 82
Percent males 49
Percent females 51
South Carroll
Critical Reading 523
Math 527
Writing 514
Total 1,564
Percent taking 52
Percent males 47
Percent females 53
Westminster
Critical Reading 521
Math 524
Writing 514
Total 1,559
Percent taking 66
Percent males 53
Percent females 47
Carroll County
Critical Reading 511
Math 520
Writing 504
Total 1,535
Percent taking 62
Percent males 47
Percent females 53
Maryland
Critical Reading 503
Math 509
Writing 499
Total 1,511
Percent taking 70
Percent males 46
Percent females 54
Nation
Critical Reading 503
Math 518
Writing 497
Total 1,518
Percent taking 48
Percent males 46
Percent females 54
Source: Carroll County Public Schools
