The average score of Anne Arundel County Public Schools students on the SAT assessment rose 14 points this year to 978, placing it above state, national and global averages for students who took the assessment this spring, data from the College Board shows.
Average scores on the reading and writing portion of the assessment were up 7 points, equaling that of the rise on the math portion. Overall scores are 25 points higher than public school students in Maryland, 17 points higher than all Maryland students, and 15 points higher than the United States average score, according to data from the College Board. The scores are also 14 points higher than the global average.
Superintendent of Schools Dr. Mark Bedell cited what he called the school district’s “pipeline of preparation,” which provides for students to take PSAT assessments multiple times free of charge before taking the SAT, as a big reason for the increases.
“We talk about helping every student arrive at a place where they can Belong, Grow, and Succeed, and these scores are proof that our work is paying off,” Dr. Bedell said. “They have come about through the hard work of our students, family and staff at all levels and through but also through a pipeline of preparation we have consciously put into place to open the doors of opportunity for students.”
All students in grades 9 through 11 can take a form of the PSAT free of charge during the school day each fall. Students in 11th grade are also offered the SAT free of charge during the school day. Anne Arundel County Public Schools has been adding funding for the assessments into its budget for several years.
“This is an investment that is beginning to pay huge dividends and those dividends will only continue to grow,” Dr. Bedell said. “I believe we are one of potentially a few school districts in Maryland going to these lengths to provide these assessments for students beginning in Grade 9, and we are only beginning to scratch the surface as we prepare students for what comes after graduation.”
AACPS students can take the PSAT 8/9 in their freshmen year and the PSAT 10 in their sophomore year. They then can take the PSAT in the fall of their junior year followed by the SAT that spring.
Nearly 15,600 students took some form of the PSAT this academic year, and 5,168 took the SAT in the spring. More than 4,200 of those students were juniors who took the PSAT National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT NMSQT) in the fall. Those students had an average score of 1010 on the SAT.
Additionally, despite an increase in the thresholds between the two assessments, the percentage of students demonstrating College Readiness grew by 2.4 points in Reading and Writing and 0.6 points in Math from the fall administration of the PSAT to the spring administration of the SAT.
“That is exactly the kind of growth that we want to see and exactly why we must continue to fund these opportunities for all of our students,” Dr. Bedell said.
Other data related to the PSAT and SAT show:
· Nearly one-third of Maryland public school test-takers on the PSAT 8/9 and more than 84 percent on the PSAT 10 were AACPS students.
· The average score (846) of AACPS students on the PSAT 8/9 is 60 points higher than Maryland public school students and 40 points higher than all Maryland students.
Data related to the performance of AACPS students on the PSAT and SAT can be found at www.aacps.org/sat2025.