Buckhead School News: Fulton County Beats State SAT Average, While APS Scores Lag Behind

The average test scores for the 2014 SAT have been released for the State of Georgia, and they paint two very different pictures for Atlanta area schools.

While the average score for schools in Fulton County was a robust 1567, Atlanta Public Schools returned an average SAT score of 1343. The average score for Georgia was 1445, below the national average score of 1497.

Just under 5,000 high school seniors took the SAT in Fulton County in 2014 and were joined by 1,075 Atlanta Public Schools students who participated as well.

Neighbor Newspapers reports that North Atlanta High School, which covers the Buckhead area, posted an average score of 1495 for the 2014 SAT, easily surpassing the Atlanta Public Schools’ average score and almost reaching the national average.

North Springs and Riverwood, the Fulton County high schools which serve Buckhead area students, beat the state and national average scores but fell short of the Fulton County average score. North Springs’ score was 1519, while Riverwood’s seniors earned a 1540 average mark.

Smyrna-Vinings’ Campbell High School scored lower than the county, state, and national average scores on the most recent administering of the SAT; The average Spartan senior scored 1425 on the exam, which was 20 points lower than the statewide average. In Cobb County, home of Campbell High School, the average SAT score was 1515, which was 18 points above the national average.

77 percent of Georgia’s seniors took the SAT in 2014, a 2.1 percent increase over the last year. However, scores decreased overall on average in all three test categories.

“Do we want to see scores go up every year? Absolutely,” State School Superintendent John Barge said in a statement. “However, we know that as more Georgia students take the SAT, we will sometimes see slight decreases. The measures are in place to better prepare students for college and 21st-century careers and, by extension, the SAT. The gains in scores will come.”

More information on individual and district scores can be accessed from the Georgia Department of Education’s website.