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County SAT scores reflect slight drop
By Derek Hodges
The average score for Jackson County students on the SAT fell slightly last year, to 1025, down three points from the previous year and 17 points from the year before that.
The small downturn in scores doesn’t bother Superintendent Sue Nations.
“You have a little fluctuation from year to year. I don’t think those three points make a real statistical difference. I don’t think this indicates a downward trend,” Nations said.
Though lower, the average still rates Jackson 21st among North Carolina’s 115 public school systems. The systems do not include charter, private or preparatory schools.
The Jackson County students who took the test achieved an average score higher than the state average (1010), but a few points lower than the national average (1028).
Students at Smoky Mountain High School earned 509 points on the verbal part of the test and 529 on the mathematics portion.
Scores from Blue Ridge School students came in considerably lower, with a 473 verbal average and 454 math average.
The difference in scores at the two schools may have something to do with the difference in how many from each school took the test, Nations said. While 98 SMHS students took the SAT last year, only 12 students at Blue Ridge did.
“The smaller your sample, the more importance each individual score has,” Nations said.
While scores are down, the number of students taking the test has seen a small increase. A total of 110 county students took the test this year, while only 106 did in 2004. Each school had two more students taking the test this year.
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