Published: August 29, 2007 12:34 pm      

Floyd Central grads score well on SAT

8 out of 9 public high schools in area had average scores below state and national average

SAT scores from five of seven public high schools in Clark county are on the upswing, but all seven still fall below state and national averages, according to scores released to states by the College Board on Tuesday.

There were, however, individual improvements.

All but New Washington and William Borden high schools improved in overall scores — from a 10-point jump at Jeffersonville High School to a 72-point increase at Silver Creek High School.

New Washington saw a 64-point drop with more than twice as many test takers from a year ago. Borden had an 82-point drop with a group of six less test takers than a year ago.

Silver Creek High School students scored two points higher than the state average on the reading section and New Washington High School students scored four points above the state average on the writing section.

Statewide, scores on the college entrance exam declined, with a one point drop on the reading section, two point decrease on mathematics and three point reduction on the writing section for a combined score of 1487.

“The latest SAT scores are clearly disappointing, especially at a time when more Hoosier students are taking challenging high school courses and going on to college than ever before,” said Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Suellen Reed in a news release Tuesday. “SAT scores may be trending downward nationwide, but that does not make these results any less of a concern.”

Reed noted that the recent SAT results disrupt Indiana’s long-running trend of steady progress on the test for more than two decades.

Despite a two-year decline, Indiana has gained 32 points since 1990 and narrowed the performance gap with the nation from 29 points to 13 points over that period.

Recent graduates of Floyd Central High School performed 31 points higher than the national average and 55 points higher than the state average for cumulative scores on the reading, math and writing sections of the SAT. Floyd Central’s total score of 1542 was the only combined score to top the national and state averages out of the nine public high schools in Clark and Floyd counties.

The 263 students at FCHS who took the test scored 15 points higher than the group of 205 students taking the standardized test a year earlier.

No other area public high school came close to cracking the 1500 mark.

Overall, the nine public high schools in Clark and Floyd counties averaged a 1442 combined score — 45 points less than the state mark.