High SAT scores are easy to explain

This is a response to comments made in The Augusta Chronicle by Tommy Price, superintendent of Columbia County schools. His comments Sept. 30 ("Columbia County objects to SAT score comparison") were in reference to comparing SAT results of Columbia County schools to Richmond County schools, particularly the 2004-05 SAT yearly averages, whereby John S. Davidson Fine Arts Magnet School ranked No. 1 in the state of Georgia with an SAT of 1184, and Westside High School ranked No. 5 in the state with an average of 1138.

EACH YEAR WHEN the national rankings are published, Georgia and South Carolina SAT averages are at or near the lowest in the nation. The state of Georgia also publishes rankings of system-by-system and school-by-school averages. The general public perceives that the higher the SAT average, the better the system and/or school. These rankings also have an effect on location of industry, and to a large part the economic development and employment status of citizens. However, according to CollegeBoard.com, SAT averages can be misleading and making comparisons is not feasible.

The following excerpt is from the CollegeBoard.com Web site:

"CollegeBoard has administered the SAT since 1926, and experts strongly discourage using the test scores to compare educational achievement from state to state. That is because the percentage of high school 11th- and 12th-graders taking the SAT varies widely, from 92 percent in New York to 4 percent in North Dakota and Mississippi. In fact, nine of 10 states with the highest scores had participation rates of 10 percent or less, meaning that only their most serious students took the SAT. In most of those states, the competing ACT is more popular. Also, individual scores can predict how well a high school graduate will do in college, but that using collective average scores to make comparisons between states and school districts is a meaningless exercise."

If comparisons are to be made between Columbia County Schools (a suburban system) and Richmond County Schools (an urban system), they could be made in the area of demographics such as average per-capita family income; percentage of families living below the poverty line; percentage of single-parent homes; and the percentage of students on free and reduced lunch, which is currently at the 70-percent mark in Richmond County.

We encourage all of our students toward an aggressive course selection that will prepare them for post-secondary options. A demanding curriculum will enhance learning and better prepare students for a four-year college or technical college. Dr. Charles Larke's proposal of a curriculum that would require all high school students to take algebra I, geometry, algebra II and two lab sciences is certainly a step in the right direction in raising the bar.

HOWEVER, NOT all students are interested in attending a four-year college after high school graduation. In fact, of the 2005 graduates at Westside High School, 53.3 percent entered four-year colleges or universities. Another 31.2 percent entered a technical college or junior college, and another 14.5 percent joined the military or entered the working world.

During students' senior and junior years at Westside we insist on them taking either the SAT, ACT, the ASSET series of short placement tests and/or the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude battery. Students planning to attend a four-year college will take the SAT or ACT. Those planning on a technical college will take the ASSET, students planning to enter a junior college are not required to take the SAT or ACT, and students that may have an interest in a military career take the ASVAB.

Students that plan to go on to a four-year college are placed in SAT prep classes starting their junior year. The first class is the Triumph Learning class, which is a knowledge-based class. The second class, usually first semester of their senior year, is the Princeton Review class, which is a test-taking strategies course. Since Richmond County began offering these classes, we have seen a steady increase in the SAT scores countywide.

ALL WESTSIDE High School students who take the SAT have access to the Westside High School SAT code (110303), which was printed along with all of the other Richmond and Columbia County school codes last year in The Augusta Chronicle. The SAT school code identifies that student as a student of a particular high school whereby his/her latest score will be averaged into the yearly SAT average of his/her school.

The administration, faculty/staff and Westside High School community are extremely proud of the accomplishments our students have made and continue to make. Our students' successes are a tribute to their desire to excel; parents who instill a work ethic in their children; feeder schools that prepare our students for Westside; and a faculty and staff that strive to help each student achieve his or her academic goals.

(Editor's note: The writer is principal of Westside High School.)