Graduates' SAT Scores Hold Steady

The average SAT score for Cobb County's 2011 graduating seniors held steady at 1522, with six high schools showing an overall increase of more than 10 points over last year's scores, according to the Cobb County School District. The Cobb average has again topped both the national and state averages, both of which declined.

Osborne High School posted the District's largest year-to-year gain with an average of 1246, a 52-point increase from 2010; other schools making improvements over last year include McEachern (34 points), Allatoona (32 points), Pope (21 points), Sprayberry (19 points), and Walton (12 points). While Cobb's class of 2011 maintained the same average SAT score, the state average declined eight points (1445) and the national average dipped nine points (1500). Seven of Cobb's 16 high schools had combined totals higher than the national average, including Kell, , Lassiter, Pope, Walton and Wheeler.

The District also saw a significant jump in the participation rate for the SAT in 2011; 81 percent of Cobb's total 2011 graduating class voluntarily took the SAT, compared to just 67 percent in 2010. Typically, scores tend to decrease when participation rises, but Cobb's 2011 seniors maintained the same average score from 2010 despite the much higher number of students taking the test this year. Even as more students have shifted toward the ACT in recent years, the SAT remains a popular and recognizable measure of college readiness.

Cobb students' two-point increase in the Writing area of the test (497) helped offset one-point decreases in the Reading (510) and Mathematics (515) segments. National and state scores declined in all three subject areas.