Great Mills High School SAT Scores Improve Two Years in a Row

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Created on Thursday, 15 September 2011 11:57

Dr. Michael J. Martirano, Superintendent of Schools, 301-475-5511, ext. 178
Ms. Linda Dudderar, Chief Academic Officer, 301-475-5511, ext. 108

Leonardtown, MD – St. Mary’s County Public Schools’ (SMCPS) students exceeded national and state averages on the Scholastic Achievement Tests (SAT) with an average combined score of 1548 out of 2400.

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.

The SAT’s 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 assess a student’s academic potential for success in college and to make decisions about the admission of individual students to their programs.

SMCPS continues to have a large portion of its senior class take the SAT. The College Board reported that 51.1 percent of the school system’s seniors were administered the SAT while in high school. This year’s percentage of seniors is the highest observed since 2002.

Chopticon High School seniors also posted scores above the state and national averages. Their average critical reading score of 518, average mathematics score of 537, and average writing score of 503 amounted to a 1558 composite average.

Great Mills High School administered the SAT assessment to 48.2 percent of its senior class. Great Mills seniors scored a 507 average on the mathematics portion. This combined with a 481 average critical reading and a 460 average writing score gave Great Mills a 1448 composite average. This combined score eclipses their previous mark set last year by 19 points.

Leonardtown High School seniors posted scores above the state and national averages. Over 66 percent of the senior class took the SAT. This is the highest participation rate of senior test takers since 2002. Leonardtown posted a critical reading average score of 544, a writing average score of 521, and a mathematics average score of 539, which gave Leonardtown a 1604 composite average.