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Local SAT scores rise
More than half of schools improve reading, math, writing scores.
Lancaster New Era
Published: Aug 28, 2008
11:37 EST
Lancaster
By ROBYN MEADOWS, Staff

 
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While the nation's SAT scores remained stagnant, most of the county's public high schools made progress.

The Class of 2008 at 10 schools earned higher reading scores than their predecessors, and nine bettered their writing scores.

Five lost ground in reading and five in writing, but by 10 points or fewer. Two schools' writing scores were unchanged.

In math, 11 local schools improved their 2007 results. Five dropped, but by six points or fewer.

Garden Spot High in Eastern Lancaster County elevated its SAT scores more than any other — 85 points in all three test areas.

Each class is different, Principal Carol Kelsell said. Still, "it's exciting."

Looking at the scores from the county's 16 public high schools, Manheim Township tops the list in reading with 549, in math with 567 and in writing with 533.

Credit the partnerships among teachers, students, parents and staff, Superintendent Gene Freeman said.

"Everybody puts effort toward a singular goal, and you come out with outstanding scores," he said.
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Countywide, the average comes to 508 for reading, 518 for math and 491 for writing. That's an increase from 2007 of seven points in reading, eight in math and seven in writing.

The high schools with the top combined reading, math and writing SAT scores are Manheim Township, Warwick, Garden Spot, Hempfield and Lampeter-Strasburg, respectively.

Garden Spot and Hempfield tied at 1,568.

Nationwide, the mean scores for college-bound seniors in reading, math and writing were the same as the Class of 2007: 502, 515 and 494, according to results released Tuesday by the College Board, the nonprofit firm that owns the SAT.

Pennsylvania's mean scores rose, but little: one point in reading to 494, two points in math to 501 and one point in writing to 483.

The College Board says the stalled scores stem from a larger and more diverse group of students taking the test.

The SAT has long been the most prominent test on the East Coast for high school graduates who are college bound. Many colleges consider SAT scores for admission.

The test has three sections — reading, math and writing — each worth 800 points.

This year, standing next to Manheim Township with high scores in reading are Warwick and Garden Spot, respectively.

For math, the second- and third-highest scores come from Hempfield and Lampeter-Strasburg.

Writing put Warwick at No. 2 and Ephrata at No. 3.

Breaking down the results for Garden Spot, scores in reading rose by 30 points, in math by 31 points and in writing by 24 points.

Principal Kelsell can't point to any specific reason for the jump.

Last year, the high school did revamp its SAT prep class.

"I think that helped," she said.

While its leap was not as high as Garden Spot's, Pequea Valley High School, which also offers SAT tutoring, also advanced its scores from 2007: 13 in reading, 11 in math and 17 in writing.

"It's just the beginning," Principal Jason Marin said. "We are going to continue to improve."

This school year, Pequea Valley launched an SAT prep class, a half-credit elective. Half of the time, students hone reading skills, and the other half, they dedicate to math.

Penn Manor High School's scores  did not climb as high as Garden Spot's either but Principal Jan Mindish sees promise in the numbers. The school's scores rose four points in reading, three  points in math and seven points in writing.

"We've always had very flat scores," she said. "This isn't a huge increase, but it's an increase in all three areas.

"I think it can be attributed to students pushing themselves in higher-level courses."

Penn Manor also has a large number of students taking dual enrollment classes, where they earn college credit while in high school.

And, this school year is the fourth  year that the district is providing students opportunities to take the PSAT, the preliminary test.

"When they don't do well, they realize they need to get more courses under their belts," Mindish said.

Staff writer Robyn Meadows can be reached at rmeadows@LNPnews.com or 481-6025.


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Can we have Margins of Error reported as well? And what about the fact that the College Board advices AGAINST this very type of reporting, against using scores to compare schools?!

The worst is claiming someone got a "Perfect" score, when you don't need to GET every question correct to get an 800 on at least the Verbal section (i e someone with an 800 score could have gotten some questions Wrong, and still recieve the "perfect" 800!).
Granted, many DO answer every question correctly, esp on the Math, but one needs to request your answer report to find out!
Mansfield
I agree, Manfield. Using SAT score to compare schools is more or less meaningless. Some of the top-scoring schools try to keep average or lower kids from taking the SAT and thus lowering those schools' "stellar" scores. Other schools encourage every kid who even thinks he might want some kind of post-high education at some point to try the SAT--of course those schools' average scores will be lower.
LicenseForMayhem
Mansfield, I thought it was supposed to be harder to get an 800 on the reading part than on the math part, since the "right" answers in the reading questions are sometimes open to debate. Math is less subjective.
LicenseForMayhem
It IS more difficult to get an 800 on the Verbal/reading section, which is also why one doesn't need to get every question correct to get the 800.
Mansfield
I am glad more colleges are recognizing the ACT tests. They are more user friendly for the students and are split between math, reading and science. A much better glance of a student's intelligence. There is a comparison chart from ACT to its SAT equivalant score. My daughter scored 100 pts. higher on the ACT compared to the SAT.
pinkglass
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