South Carolina SAT scores improve; still worse than average

South Carolina's SAT scores improved in 2008, but they still trailed the national average. Berkeley's students improved, Charleston's remained steady, and Dorchester schools fell.

SAT Test
Flickr user The BrassPotato
Ah, testing: fun for your teen.Here's the overview from the S.C. State Department of Education:
South Carolina high school seniors in the Class of 2008 raised their average SAT scores by two points, the College Board said today. Seniors continued a dramatic improvement trend on college Advanced Placement exams.

South Carolina seniors’ average composite score for critical reading, math and writing was 1,461, up two points from 2007. The national average stayed at 1,511. Critical reading was 488, math was 497 and writing was 476, compared to national averages of 502, 515 and 494.

But, it's not all improvements, the release continue to say:
State Superintendent of Education Jim Rex said that although African-American students continued to make major strides in closing the "achievement gap" with white students on Advanced Placement tests, the gap widened on 2008’s SAT results.

Head over to The Post and Courier for some analysis of the scores, or dig into the numbers on your own. Just remember they changed the scoring system in 2006 (so don't cry if your score from 1995 seems low now), here's a guide to scoring.

And, here's the College Board's (the folks that make the SAT) guide to state results this year.

Filed in