MCPS Graduates Outperformed the State and the Nation; Work Remains to Close Gap for African American and Hispanic Students

The Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) Class of 2016 earned a combined average SAT score of 1631, a two-point increase over the previous year, and 175 and 147 points higher than the Maryland and national averages, respectively.  However, while the district’s scores among African American and Hispanic graduates were significantly above the national and state averages, they remain below that of their White and Asian counterparts in MCPS.

For the Class of 2016, the SAT participation rate was 64.7 percent. This is 14.6 percentage points higher than that for graduates in the nation (50.1 percent), but 12.0 percentage points lower than that for graduates in the state of Maryland (76.7 percent). The participation rate dropped 3.1 percentage points from 2015 to 2016 for MCPS graduates.

“Many of our students continue to perform at a high level on this assessment, but not all,” stated Dr. Jack R. Smith, MCPS superintendent of schools. “While this is just one data point in a student’s educational career, it is a meaningful measure to help assess student readiness for college and career. We must continue to focus on closing this and other gaps in outcomes for our students so that scores are not predictable by race, ethnicity, socio-economic status or service.”

“I am pleased to see that a large number of our students continue to perform at a high level on this test,” stated Michael Durso, president of the Montgomery County Board of Education. “Though MCPS sets the high bar for Maryland and is a leader in the nation, we must not become complacent.  There is still work to be done to ensure that all MCPS students perform at the highest levels.” 

The SAT college entrance examination includes three sections—critical reading, mathematics and writing—each of which is worth a maximum of 800 points. The average score for the MCPS Class of 2016 was 545 on the critical reading section (up 3 points from 2016); 551 on the mathematics portion (down 3 points); and 536 on the writing portion (up 3 points).

SAT Participation and Performance