S. Carolina's SAT scores keep climbing

South Carolina SAT scores are up again, while results from local districts were mixed, the College Board reported Tuesday.

The state's class of 2008 earned a composite score of 1461 this year, up two points from 2007. This continues an improvement trend in the Palmetto State, evidenced by a 34-point rise since 1998. South Carolina showed the most improvement in the nation during the past decade among states where more than half of high school seniors take the SAT. Vermont's 30-point improvement was second, and North Carolina came in third with a 25-point improvement.

The national average remained unchanged at 1511.

Scores for the college entrance exam are based on critical reading, math and writing. State Superintendent of Education Jim Rex emphasized that students need to be well prepared academically before signing up for either the SAT or the ACT, the other widely accepted college entrance exam.

"It's important for guidance counselors to work with students and their parents to make sure that kids take high-quality courses before they take either the ACT of the SAT," Rex said in a news release.

Locally, districts showed extreme highs and lows.

One school district was among only eight in the state to exceed the national average. Seniors in Spartanburg School District 1 earned a composite score of 1528, which was 17 points above the national average. Additionally, District 1's Landrum High School, which showed a score of 1626, was one of 40 public schools in the state to surpass the national average. LHS's composite score was an increase of 141 points since 2007.

SAT composite scores at Chapman, Landrum, Boiling Springs, Broome, Byrnes, Dorman and Spartanburg high schools surpassed the state average.

Spartanburg Day School's composite score of 1831 exceeded both the national and state average. All 37 seniors at the private K-12 school took the SAT in 2008.

Seniors at Broome High School showed the most improvement in 2008 with a 55-point increase. BHS Principal Vernon Prosser said the District 3 school's composite score of 1484 is due to a combined effort between teachers and students.

"Our teachers worked hard. We use a lot of data analysis here at Broome High School. We work with our students to improve our scores," Prosser said. "Our best test takers really stepped up and took the test more than one time to improve their score."

"We were delighted that the academically talented youngsters opted for additional testing opportunities, and those numbers moved," said District 3 Superintendent Jim Ray, who noted that many of the students took the SAT as many as three times.

Prosser said teachers work with 10th-grade students who opt to take the PSAT, and students have access to online preparatory resources. Also, many classes have an SAT question of the day to keep the material fresh in student minds.

Woodruff High School showed the biggest decrease in scores. Seniors had an average score 81 points below last year's class for a total score of 1426. Last year, the District 4 school had the largest increase of any school in the county.

"One year you're up; one year you're down," WHS Principal Karen Neal said.

Neal said this year's score is the lowest the school has earned in several years. With only 65 students taking the test in 2008, Neal noted that one student can make a difference.

"We certainly would like our SAT scores to be better," she said. "I think the SAT test is one where our scores seem to fluctuate from class to class."

Neal said the school hasn't changed in its commitment to offering a "very sound curriculum," and she hopes that, coupled with data analysis, will help bring the scores up next year.

"We will be reviewing and analyzing the scores we received to see if there are any specific needs of any specific areas we need to target," Neal said.

AP scores

The College Board also released state-level Advanced Placement (AP) test data Tuesday.

An all-time high of 15,362 South Carolina students earned high enough scores to collect college credit. The total is a 3 percent increase over 2007. The number of exams attempted also increased to an all-time high of 26,872. The percentage of students passing the test with scores between 3 and 5 remained at 57.1.

Local AP scores will be made available later in the fall.