CARROLLTON, GA — Carrollton High School students have yet again topped the national average in SAT performance while also increasing the number of students who took the popular college entrance exam.
CarrolltonÂ’s Class of 2021 earned a composite score of 1071, 33 points higher than the national average of 1038. The class had a strong participation rate as well at 62 percent.
“We are proud of our student performance on the SAT, but we are also proud that a great number of our students take this test,” said CHS Principal Ian Lyle. “I am thankful for our teachers and counseling department who stress the importance of college readiness and go the extra mile to make sure our students are prepared for the next step.”
Historically, schools with a high participation rate many times compromise their mean scores because students of all performance levels take the exam. With this in mind, the College Board, the administering organization for the SAT, further calculates past the overall mean score by percentile ranks to further demonstrate a schoolÂ’s effectiveness.
For the 50th percentile of CHS Class of 2021, the class posted an average of 1060, 20 points higher than 2020.
“We have always encouraged students to take the SAT and ACT in order to plan for multiple post-secondary options,” said CHS Assistant Principal Courtney Walker. “However, the last two years we’ve taken it a step further and intentionally sought to identify and remove barriers which prevent students from testing.”
CHS began offering the option for students to take the test during regular school hours. The school offers this option once in the fall and once in the spring.
“The SAT and ACT are traditionally administered on Saturdays,” said Walker. “Transportation, extracurricular schedules and other personal conflicts often reduce the number of students able to test outside of school hours. By providing students with an opportunity to take the SAT during the school day, we are able to support more students in their college and career planning, regardless of their personal circumstances.”
Carrollton City Schools Supt. Dr. Mark Albertus notes the consistently strong performances of CHS students on the SAT and ACT can be attributed to the districtÂ’s overarching mission to focus on student outcomes.
“This most recent performance indicator demonstrates the district’s commitment to ensuring our students leave CHS college-and-career ready with a high school diploma in hand,” he said. “The Class of 2021 makes this continued focus evident as 80 percent of these graduates are continuing their education at the next level.”
