Medora bucks SAT trend

Most Jackson County public high schools’ overall average SAT scores dropped this year, but Medora High School made significant improvements, jumping 141 points, according to results released by the Indiana Department of Education this week.

All schools, however, remained below the state average on the college prep exam.

Medora, the county’s smallest public high school, had an average score of 1,470 out of a total of 2,400 points possible, making it the highest average composite score in the county. Seymour High School ranked second with a score of 1,445, dropping 10 points from 2008. Brownstown Central High School dropped 74 points for a total of 1,390 and Crothersville High School fell 69 points, scoring an average of 1,321. The state average is 1,483.

Brownstown Central Principal Joe Sheffer said he was “surprised” that his school’s average score had dropped so much.

“It’s hard to say what all figures into that. It could have just been the class,” he said. “But these scores come in cycles. One year we will be up, the next we’ll be down. A lot has to do with the number of students taking the test. A low number of test takers has a high impact on the results.”

Sixty-nine Brownstown students took the SAT in the 2008-09 school year. Seymour had the highest number of test takers at 116. Crothersville had 15 and Medora had six.

Although scores were generally lower, some principals said they were encouraged by their students’ scores on certain portions of the SAT, which tests students in the areas of reading, math and writing.

Students at Medora scored an average of 512 in reading, 16 points higher than the state average of 496 and the highest average reading score of the county’s four public high schools. Brownstown scored an average of 466, dropping 19 points from last year’s score of 485. Crothersville dropped just one point from 456 in 2008 to 455 this year and Seymour fell 12 points, from 486 to 474.

Although he said he hasn’t had time to evaluate the scores, Medora Principal Brad McCammon attributes the students’ success in reading to a couple of initiatives the corporation has implemented over the years.

“With this particular group of kids, we had started an Accelerated Reader program back when they were in elementary school to really improve and emphasize reading,” McCammon said. “Then we expanded that idea and added a silent reading program in high school to encourage them to read even more. Obviously, we are seeing some good results.”

In math, Medora increased its average score by 24 points, from 469 in 2008 to 493 in 2009. In writing, the school went up 41 points, from 424 in 2008 to 465 in 2009. State average in reading is 496 and is 480 in writing.

McCammon said reading programs will continue and he hopes to find similar ways to improve math and writing scores.

Crothersville Principal David Schill said his teachers have been focusing on writing and problem solving in all classes to help better prepare students to take the SAT.

“We are doing a lot of writing activities and working on reading comprehension,” he said. “Not just in language arts, but we are writing in math, social studies, science and across the board.”

The corporation had an average score of 445 in math, down from 471 in 2008, and 421 in writing, down from 463.

Schill said he had not seen the scores yet but would be sitting down with his guidance counselor and teachers to discuss them later.

“Although we encourage all students to take the SAT and ACT, we don’t stress them like we do the ISTEP and course exams,” he said. “However, we do use the data to help prepare lessons and update curriculum.”

To help improve math skills, Schill said teachers are implementing more problem-solving activities.

“We are stressing that students need to read the problems completely, because what kids have done in the past is not complete the problem, so they are learning to take the time to read and understand the problem and answer appropriately.”

Schill said his concern with tests like the SAT is that the scores are misleading to students.

“I don’t think it necessarily predicts how you will do in college,” he said.

Seymour Principal Greg Prange said he was proud of his students’ efforts on the SAT, especially in math. SHS students scored an average of 509 in math, one point less than 2008, but one point higher than the state average.

In writing, Seymour increased its average score by three points, going from 460 in 2008 to 463 in 2009.