ATLANTA — The Georgia Department of Education reported Wednesday that public school students in the Peach State outperformed the national average on SAT scores for the third year running.
While nationwide scores dropped amid the difficulties presented by the coronavirus pandemic, Georgia students also only saw their scores drop by about half as much as the national average.
The Department of Education said Georgia's public school students clocked in with an SAT average of 1043, 13 points better than the U.S. average of 1030.
That national average fell nine points from a year ago, while Georgia's fell only five.
“The class of 2020 has faced unprecedented adversity and uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” State School Superintendent Richard Woods said in a release. “Given all they have overcome, I am so proud of these students for becoming the third graduating class in Georgia history to beat the national average on the SAT. I continue to be optimistic about the future of Georgia public schools as our students, teachers, and schools continue to surpass expectations and outperform their peers nationally.”
Georgia's Black and Hispanic public school students specifically beat the national average solidly, with Black students scoring 30 points better and Hispanic students scoring 52 points better than the national mean for their racial groupings.
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