GCS Releases SAT Data for the Class of 2011

The College Board released SAT Reasoning Test results Wednesday for Guilford County Schools (GCS), however changes in the way the data is reported may make it difficult to compare the results to previous years.

A total of 3,402 GCS graduates, or 71.4 percent of the class of 2011, took the SAT in preparation for applying to college.The district's mean score on the combined Critical Reading, Math and Writing sections of the SAT was 1445. The mean score on the Critical Reading and Math sections for GCS was 977. The district averaged scores of 484 on Critical Reading, 493 on Math and 468 on Writing.

Following state and national trends, the data shows that the district's SAT participation rate increased from last year's 64.9 percent rate while the average Critical Reading, Math and Writing score decreased from last year's combined score of 1461. However, district officials are waiting for more information before comparing this year's results to previous years due to a change in the way the College Board is reporting SAT data.

This year, the College Board changed the way it reports SAT data to include results for the Class of 2011 from all test administrations through June 2011. In previous years, the data only included tests given through March. As a result, this year's results are based on a different time frame of test administrations and may not be comparable to previous years. The College Board says it made this change based on the trend of more students taking the SAT for the first time in May or June of their senior year.