Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 30, 1995 TAG: 9508300033
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Students don't have to worry that they will be put down by their classmates because they do well in their studies, says Carolyn Canada, a guidance counselor at the school.
``It's cool to be a good student at Radford,'' she said. ``There is a lot of emphasis on academics.''
In such an environment, it's not surprising that Radford's average SAT scores are above the national mean on both the verbal and math parts of the exam.
The SAT scores for two other Western Virginia localities, Salem and Montgomery County, are also higher than the national average on both parts.
Craig County had the highest combined Scholastic Assessment Test score in the region: 975. Its students scored nearly 100 points above the national average on the verbal part, although they fell below the national mean on math. The national combined average is 910.
Mike Wills, principal of Craig County High, said the county's students traditionally have done well on the verbal test.
At most schools, students score higher on the math test.
Botetourt County also topped the national average on the verbal test, but was below in math.
School officials in Radford, Salem and Montgomery County cited several reasons for their students' strong performance on the college entrance exam, but all pointed to good teachers as crucial.
In combined scores, Montgomery County ranked second in the region with 966, followed by Radford, 948, and Salem, 917.
``The quality of instruction - I think that would be No. 1 why our students did well,'' said Joe Kirby, Salem's director of instruction.
James Sellers, Montgomery County's assistant superintendent, said his county has a ``good instructional program and good teachers,'' although there are other factors, too.
Radford has effective teachers, small classes and a pro-education attitude in the community that create a climate conducive to academic excellence, Canada said.
The three jurisdictions' scores on the math part of the SAT buck the trend in Virginia, where the average math score dropped to 14 points below the national mean this year.
At Radford, math classes are small, some with only 14 students, so the children get more individual attention, Canada said.
The guidance counselor said that Radford's being a university community leads to an environment that values education. ``It begins in the home and helps create a positive atmosphere for education,'' she said.
``This is a family town. The use of drugs and the threat of violence are minimal in school, so you can get on with education.''
Sellers said Montgomery County's school system also benefits from the presence of Virginia Tech and Radford University in the New River Valley; the county has many student teachers from those universities.
Sellers said school officials are not preoccupied with the SAT and other standardized tests, but they try to offer a curriculum that helps the students do well on them.
Montgomery County's scores increased substantially this year - from 450 to 462 in verbal, and 488 to 504 in math.
Salem, home of Roanoke College, also has a tradition of doing well on standardized tests, including the SAT.
About 80 percent of Salem's high school seniors take the SAT, a figure that is substantially higher than the 65 percent of seniors in the state and 41 percent in the nation. About 60 percent in Radford and Montgomery County take it.
Score averages tend to drop when the percentage of students taking the exam increases.
The average score of Virginia students on the verbal part this year was 428, identical to the national average. The state's score in math was 468 - 14 points below the national average.
Virginia's average scores increased by four points on the verbal part and dropped one point in math.
Nationally, high school graduates recorded their best scores on the exam in years, including the highest math average in two decades.
Education Secretary Richard Riley attributed improvements to students' taking tougher classes, especially math and science.
``You have to be willing to take the difficult courses, and those kinds of things are paying off,'' Riley said.
by CNB