St. Mary’s County Public Schools’ (SMCPS) students exceeded national and state averages for reading and mathematics on the SAT with an average combined score of 1516 out of 2400. The performance on the writing section of the test declined by 6 points from 2006.

SMCPS continues to have a large portion of its senior class take the SAT. The College Board reported that 49.6 percent of the school system’s seniors were administered the SAT assessment this year, the highest participation rate to date. Leonardtown High School administered the SAT to 60.5 percent of all seniors. Great Mills High School administered the test to 54.7 percent of all seniors. Chopticon High School tested 33.9 percent of all seniors.

Leonardtown High School led all county schools in the reading, mathematics, and writing performance of the SAT. Their average critical reading score of 525, average mathematics score of 533, and average writing score of 509 led to a 1567 composite average. Chopticon High School seniors also posted scores above the state and national average.

African American students posted increases in all three tested areas with an 11 point gain in writing, 39 point gain in reading, and 38 point gain in mathematics. Their combined score of 1332 showed an 88 point gain overall from 2006.

The SAT Reasoning Test is a measure of the critical thinking skills students need for academic success in college. The SAT assesses how well students analyze and solve problems. The tests are typically taken by high school juniors and seniors, and are designed for students who plan to attend four-year colleges. Results of these tests are used by colleges and universities to make decisions about the admission of individual students to their programs and to assess a student’s academic potential for success in college.

The SAT includes a critical reading, math, and writing section, and includes expanded math topics such as exponential growth, absolute value, and functional notation. The SAT places greater emphasis on topics such as linear functions, manipulations with exponents, and properties of tangent lines. The critical reading section, formerly known as the verbal section, includes short reading passages along with the existing long reading passages. Analogies have been eliminated, but sentence-completion questions and passage-based reading questions remain. The writing section includes both multiple-choice questions and a direct writing measure in the form of an essay.

To encourage continued gains on the SAT, the school system has adopted the Official SAT Online Course through the College Board.  This program, accessible by any high school student through any internet-based computer, allows students access to eight real SAT exams to help practice and refine critical reading, math, and writing skills, as needed.  The program also offers eight real SAT essay prompts with instant scoring.  The program can be accessed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, by visiting www.collegeboard.com/satonlinecourseschool.

St. Mary’s County Public Schools
SAT Summary

 

SAT Scores

Year