Schools in Richmond, Columbia counties tout results on SAT

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - For the fifth year in a row, Georgia public-school students outperformed their counterparts in the nation’s public schools on the SAT, state education officials said Wednesday.

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Local school districts are pleased with their results, too.

Richmond County

In Richmond County, Class of 2022 test takers earned higher SAT mean scores than pre-pandemic test takers continuing the trend of overall growth in SAT performance. Also, the number of SAT test takers increased compared to 2021.

Several Richmond County Schools reported notable test results:

A.R. Johnson and Davidson Fine Arts School students scored above the state and national average in evidence-based reading and SAT math.
Davidson Fine Arts School students scored in the top 5% of the state at 16th of 393 schools.
A.R. Johnson and Richmond Career Technical Magnet School students overall scores increase for 2021 and 2022.
Glenn Hills High School test takers saw gains in SAT combined scores and in SAT evidence-based reading for 2022.
The Academy of Richmond County had record test scores in 2021. Test takers from the Class of 2022 outperformed pre-pandemic scores reported in 2020.

“Congratulations to the Richmond County School System Class of 2022 for achievement growth over 2020 pre-pandemic SAT test takers,” said Dr. Kenneth Bradshaw, superintendent of schools.

Columbia County

The Columbia County School District’s SAT scores for 2022 continue to beat state and national averages, district officials said.

Columbia County students scored 70 points above the national average and 46 points above the state average, with an average score of 1,098, with 178 more students participating than in 2021.

Here’s a look at the figures by school:

Columbia County SAT statistics for the Class of 2022(Contributed)

“We congratulate the hard-working students and staff who are behind these outstanding scores,” said Dr. Steve Flynt, superintendent. “We are looking forward to continuing to evaluate these scores and identify areas of improvement.”

Across Georgia

Georgia public-school students recorded a mean score of 1,052, which is 24 points higher than the national average of 1,028 for public-school students.

Georgia’s public-school Class of 2022 recorded a mean score of 536 on the evidence-based reading and writing portion of the assessment, and a mean score of 516 on the math portion. That’s compared to averages of 521 and 507, respectively, for students in the nation’s public schools.

Georgia students’ 2022 mean score decreased compared to 2021, when the mean score was 1077, but is still higher than 2020′s mean score of 1043 and 2019′s mean score of 1048. Georgia public-school students’ lead over the national average has also grown during that time, from a nine-point gap in 2019 to a 24-point gap today.

Additionally, participation increased sharply compared to 2021, when the impacts of the pandemic – including the temporary waiver of SAT/ACT score requirements for University System of Georgia admissions, and the cancellation of some test registrations and closure of some test centers in 2020 – caused fewer students in the graduating class to take the SAT.

Fifty-one percent of Georgia’s class of 2022 took the SAT at some point during high school, compared to 38 percent of the class of 2021.

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