Carrollton High School students top the national and state averages in SAT performance, further confirming the trend established by the release last week of ACT college readiness testing.

In both assessment instruments, Class of 2018 graduates outperformed the national average. On the ACT, CHS students scored 21.2, compared to the national average of 20.8. On the SAT, CHS outperformed Georgia by four points and the nation’s 1049 score by nine points for a mean score of 1058.

In addition to pacing above the national average on performance, Carrollton High School and Georgia both posted a participation rate average of 66 percent, a full 30 percentage points more than the national average of 36 percent.

Compared locally, a much larger percentage of Carrollton graduates took the SAT. The surrounding Georgia school districts in Carroll, Coweta, Douglas, Haralson and Heard averaged a collective 46 percent participation rate, 20 percentage points below Carrollton High School.  These numbers were calculated based on state graduation rate and SAT data.

“We are proud of our student performance on the SAT, but we also acknowledge with pride that a large number of our students take this assessment,” said CHS Principal David Brooks. “I give credit to our teachers and counseling department for emphasizing the importance of college readiness and doing whatever it takes to ensure our students are prepared for these assessments.”

Historically, schools with a high participation rate many times compromise their mean scores because students of all performances levels take the exam. With this in mind, the College Board, the administrating organization for the SAT, further calculates past the overall mean score by percentile ranks.

For the CHS Class of 2018, the top 25 percent of the class scored an average of 1180. At the 50th percentile, the class posted an average of 1040 and the lower 25th percentile posted an average score of 940.

“Our philosophy always has been to encourage all students to take the SAT and ACT to ensure they are prepared even if they think they won’t go to college,” said CHS Assistant Principal Susan Gordy. “This fact is demonstrated in our percentile rank data. When you break down the scores by rank, you see our top-performing students are quite competitive with their academically aggressive peers across the nation, while our lower ranking students still posting performances that can get them in a post-secondary institution.”

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 district’s overarching mission to focus on student outcomes.

“This most recent performance indicator demonstrates the district’s commitment to ensure our students leave CHS college and career ready with a high school diploma in hand,” he said. “The Class of 2018 is proof of this continued focus as 87 percent these graduates are continuing their education at the next level.”