February 28, 2008
FORSYTH COUNTY -- The SAT is one of the most anticipated (and perhaps dreaded) events during a student's secondary school career. Students study hard to work towards a high score to help them gain college admission, but other students still may need help boosting their score.
The county school system has taken this to heart and unveiled the 2400 Challenge -- a program to raise Forsyth students' SAT scores across the board. As one of the first major projects by new superintendent Buster Evans, the 2400 Challenge is an ambitious project that the district hopes can start progress at an early age.
"Forsyth is currently seventh in the state in SAT scores -- and that's pretty good, but we don't outrank other metro schools," said Evans. "We're fifth in the metro area and we feel like we could lead the state."
Evans said that the SAT scores reflect on not only the quality of the district, but also prove to be valuable marketing tools when trying to attract businesses and industry to the county. The superintendent believes that by raising SAT scores across the board, which will help economic development in the community.
The 2400 Challenge is a multi-faceted approach to raising test scores by examining a lot of key things. It starts out with simple things like doing one SAT question a day, to helping to raise participation in the state's free online test preparation program.
"We pride ourselves in being a district that is highly involved online, but we found that this resource is something we are underrepresented on," said Evans.
He went on to add that the school system would like to add high quality classes both inside and outside of the school day for students to utilize.
One unique step the district is taking is passing out a dictionary to each third grader in the county donated by the five Rotary Clubs in Forsyth. A child working to improve their vocabulary at an early age can help to lead to a higher SAT score when they take the test.
In addition to the student element of the program, the school system has set up an SAT task force of people in the school system and the community to work together to tailor this program. It is made up of students, parents teachers, school leaders and business and community leaders to examine five key areas that include the curriculum, preparation efforts, motivation, communication with parents and guidance promotion.
With hard work Evans and his colleagues at Forsyth County Schools are optimistic about the future of the program and improvement of Forsyth SAT scores.
"When you add all of the things up about this program, this thing will be better than any individual effort," said the superintendent.
- www.northfulton.com
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