McIntosh High leads with 1625, while FCHS bottoms out at 1466, a drop of 43 points

Fayette County mirrored the rest of the state as the county saw its 2007 Scholastic Aptitude Test scores drop. That includes one local high school whose score fell 43 points from last year.

Even so, the county's overall average boosted Fayette to fourth in the state.

The county’s district-wide score of 1548 dropped seven points from last year’s score of 1555, according to the Georgia Department of Education’s website.

This is the second year of the revised SAT that features a writing section. A perfect score on the test is now 2400, compared to the old 1600.

The state’s average SAT score was 1472 in 2007, the state website says. Like the entire nation, Georgia saw a drop in its SAT scores in 2007. Georgia’s score dropped 5 points from the previous year, while the nation fell 7 points to 1511.

McIntosh High School paced the Fayette schools with a 1625 score, while Starr’s Mill students had an average score of 1605.

Whitewater High School students were measured for the first time last year and finished third in the county with an average score of 1517.

Sandy Creek students scored 1478, while Fayette County High students had a score of 1466, lowest of the five schools tested.

Compared to last year’s scores, Sandy Creek’s scores improved 21 points, Starr’s Mill students had the same score and McIntosh dropped off four points.

The biggest drop in the county was at Fayette County High, which saw its average score drop 43 points.

Demographics of the five schools paint a mixed picture.

The school with the highest minority percentage — 46.5 percent (as of 2005) — was Sandy Creek High School in Tyrone, which saw its score increase over last year by 21 points to 1478. It ranked fourth out of the five high schools with an average of 1478, 147 points behind McIntosh.

The school with the lowest minority portion — Starr's Mill with 13 percent — had the same SAT average as last year, but came in 20 points below McIntosh, which has the second lowest minority percentage with 19.2 percent.

FCHS, with a minority population of 38.1 percent in 2005 — second highest in the county — saw its average fall 43 points from last year.

According to the state's website, 159 points separates the SAT leader in Fayette from the bottom-ranked school.

Whitewater with 18.3 percent minorities — second lowest in the county — came in third in the SAT averages at 1517.

“Although our scores dropped a little from last year, we are still pleased with how our students performed on the SAT," Fayette Superintendent John DeCotis said in a prepared statement.

"Once again Fayette’s score is soaring above both the state and national average thanks to the hard work of our dedicated teachers, administrators, students and parents. While Fayette’s scores are high, there is room for improvement. We will work to determine why our score dropped this year and, based on what we determine, take the appropriate measures to help all of our students perform at their personal best,” said DeCotis.

Overall, Fulton County led the state with a combined 1595 average score. Fayette was fourth in the state behind Fulton, the city of Decatur and Oconee County. Cherokee County also had a 1548 average.

Shortly after the scores were released, Gov. Sonny Perdue weighed in on the issue.

“While we never like to gain ground by allowing our scores to go down, Georgia was again able to close the gap with the national average, continuing a positive trend for the sixth year in a row,” said Perdue. “Today we learned from the College Board that while the state of Georgia and the nation as a whole saw a dip in 2007 SAT scores, Georgia continues to have outstanding participation rates and our minority students are scoring higher than the national average for minorities. Our African-American and Hispanic public school students’ average scores continue to outpace their counterparts around the nation with higher scores in most areas of the test.”

According to the release, Georgia’s African-American students outscored their national counterparts by five points in the critical reading section and by five points in the writing sections of the test.

Hispanic students in Georgia outscored their national counterparts by 23 points in the critical reading section, 16 points in the writing section and 18 points in the math portion of the test.

“I am proud that we strive to make the SAT accessible to all students in Georgia,” said Gov. Perdue. “We’ve increased the number of students who take the SAT by offering free online SAT prep courses and increased access to rigorous Advanced Placement courses. By increasing the number of students who take the SAT, we are increasing the number of students who may pursue a post-secondary education, hopefully in Georgia.”