Students in Floyd County Schools have scored gains in SAT scores not seen in recent history of the school district.  Students at Armuchee High, Coosa High, Model High and Pepperell High all eclipsed the state and national averages on the college entrance exam.  The Floyd County class of 2007 scored 1535 on the SAT compared to the Georgia average of 1471 and the national average of 1512.  Results of the SAT's, the tests widely used for college admissions, were released on Tuesday, August 28 by the College Board.

Floyd County, as a system, saw a 71 point increase over one year ago in the 2007 combined verbal, math and writing results on the SAT.  Floyd County raised its verbal score 21 points to 516, the math score increased 23 points to 515 and the writing score improved 27 points to 504.  Floyd County outdistanced the state each section of the test and the national average in verbal and writing.  The system and nation were even on the math section of the test.  The state scored 494 on verbal, 494 on math and 483 on writing.  The national average was 503 verbal, 515 math and 494 on writing.  This is the second year of the revised SAT which added a writing section last year.

To achieve the SAT gains, Floyd County Schools made a number of academic enhancements over the last five years.  Academic enhancements included an increase in the number of advanced academic courses available to students, the system partnered with Cambridge to provide SAT prep classes, the Honors College Prep advanced academic program was started, and the system introduced Georgia's first electronic classrooms that allow one teacher in a high school or middle school to teach students in all of our middle and high schools. "We see these 2007 scores as positive accomplishments by our students and high schools as a result of our efforts to raise the level of student achievement," stated Kelly Henson, superintendent of Floyd County Schools. "SAT scores are a product of exposure to course offerings over time so dramatic improvement can not be achieved in the short term but these scores indicate that our improvements at the middle school and high school level are producing results."

All four high schools in the system scored above the national average. Model High showed the most significant gain with an increase of 121 points over last year. Model students posted a score of 1518 (517 verbal, 510 math and 491 writing) on the test. Pepperell High showed a significant increase with a gain of 81 points for the year. Pepperell students scored 1574 (528 verbal, 520 math and 526 writing) Armuchee High improved 52 points at 1534 (512 verbal, 521 math and 501 writing) and Coosa High students continued their consistently high performance with a total of 1513 (504 verbal, 511 math and 498 writing.) Coosa High was awarded one of the first Governor's Cup for SAT improvement in 2004.

Floyd County Schools has made the following enhancements in the academic program in recent years to improve student performance:

• Addition of honors level classes
• Increased expectation for student achievement
• Continued improvement in SAT Prep classes offered at all high schools as part of the regular curriculum
• SAT Prep classes (taught by Cambridge Educational Services staff) offered during Intersession periods at no charge to the students
• Extensive training for English and mathematics teachers in test preparation by Cambridge Educational Services
• Increased emphasis on vocabulary in all core classes
• Increased use of SAT format in instruction
• Guidance and counseling focused on preparation and readiness for SAT
• Emphasis on summer reading
• SAT prep activities incorporated into daily instruction including: SAT word of the day, SAT math problem of the day, etc.

The College Board credits a rigorous curriculum as being the single most influential factor in raising SAT scores. Henson said, "The Floyd County Board of Education made tough decisions to invest additional resources into our academic program during difficult economic times and we are now beginning to see this investment produce results in preparing students for success at the college and university level."

In Georgia the SAT is the test that most students take because it is required for admission to state universities. The SAT also can be taken by any student, even if they have not been on a college bound course of study in high school. Students can take the test multiple times to improve their score during their high school career, but only the last score recorded by a student is used for SAT reporting purposes by the College Board. Colleges and universities use the student's best score for admission. Each Floyd County high school encourages students to take the test more than once to improve their standing for college admission. The College Board report does not reflect the best score of a student or a school class.