What we know about our Community… Superior student performance on the SAT, the primary college readiness measure in Georgia, is a fundamental indicator of quality learning and school system excellence to all of our stakeholders. Superior student performance on the SAT is of primary importance to the business & community stakeholders of Forsyth County Schools.

What we know about our Community… College-bound students & parents in our community expect the school system to provide a K-12 education that prepares students for success at the college of their choice. Forsyth County Schools must ensure we provide college- bound students with support, resources, and incentives that maximize student college readiness, with primary focus on the SAT.

What we know about SAT Performance… Students who excel in academically rigorous coursework-- particularly in the core academics of English, Math, Science, Social Studies, and Foreign Languages--tend to be better prepared for college & excel on the SAT. Students who participate in SAT test preparation activities prior to taking the SAT tend to perform at significantly higher levels on the SAT than students who do not.

What we know about FCS SAT Performance… Forsyth County Schools currently ranks 7 th in the state in student performance on the SAT. Forsyth County Schools currently ranks 5 th among 14 Metropolitan Atlanta school systems in student performance on the SAT. Forsyth County Schools currently ranks 6 th among 6 geographically & demographically similar areas in Metro Atlanta.

What we know about FCS SAT Performance… Overall student performance on the SAT (combined Reading, Math & Writing Sections) is strong & showing improvement: ScoreGA RankMetro RankRegion Rank th 5 th 6 th th 5 th 6 th Region rank was determined by comparing FCS to other Metro ATL school systems with schools in the top 100 in SAT Performance that shared geographic & demographic characteristics with our system. The 5 regions FCS was compared with are Cherokee, Cobb, Fayette, Gwinnett, and North Fulton.

What we know about FCS SAT Performance… Overall student performance on the SAT (combined Reading and Math Sections only) is strong & showing improvement: ScoreGA RankMetro RankRegion Rank th 5 th 6 th th 7 th 6 th *7 th *

What we know about FCS SAT Performance… Student performance on the CRITICAL READING section of the SAT is strong & showing improvement: ScoreGA RankMetro RankRegion Rank th 4 th 5 th th 5 th 6 th *7 th *

What we know about FCS SAT Performance… Student performance on the MATHEMATICS section of the SAT is strong and showing improvement: ScoreGA RankMetro RankRegion Rank th 5 th 6 th th 6 th *7 th *

What we know about FCS SAT Performance… Student performance on the WRITING section of the SAT is strong: ScoreGA RankMetro RankRegion Rank th 3 rd th 3 rd 5 th

What we know about Forsyth County Schools… All four of our high schools currently have some independent initiatives in place that we believe will lead greater college readiness and improved student performance on the SAT in : Specific SAT-related Instructional Activities Academically Rigorous Curriculum SAT Preparation Opportunities (online & traditional)

What we believe… College-bound students in Forsyth County Schools should be achieving levels of superior performance on the SAT. Forsyth County Schools has all of the resources needed to support superior college readiness and student performance on the primary measure of readiness, the SAT.

What we believe… Students in Forsyth County Schools can lead the region, state & nation in college readiness and SAT performance with community involvement and the support of a focused, district-wide initiative for improvement.

What we plan on doing… Working with business partners & the Forsyth County Chamber of Commerce to organize a Task Force that will plan a district-wide strategy to improve student SAT performance through: Academic Rigor in Curriculum & Instruction SAT / ACT Test Preparation Opportunities Advisement & Guidance Programs School & Student Incentives Stakeholder Communication

Where we are in the plan… As of today, we have: Presented the initiative to the Board of Education Named FCS Co-Chair, Mr. Michel Satterfield Named Business / Community Co-Chair, Mr. Tracy Moon Completed Draft Timeline for Task Force Work Contacted High Schools for Teacher, Student & Parent Reps Compiled Preliminary SAT Performance Data for Comparison Begun conversations w/ school & system leaders. Set up a webpage & blog for feedback. Organized & structured Task Force.

Where we want to go next… Our next steps will be to: Finalize Task Force & sub-committee membership Organize Kick Off & Initial Task Force Meetings Publicize initiative in our system Publicize initiative in our community through local media outlets Begin Task Force work

How will we define success ? Providing a greater range of high quality, focused & organized district-wide strategies with the goal of improving overall student college readiness, focusing specifically on SAT Performance. Greater student participation in college readiness opportunities (AP / IB Courses, SAT Preparation, etc.) Improved readiness for all college-bound Forsyth County students as measured by SAT scores, ACT scores, participation in AP / IB curriculum, AP / IB exam results, college acceptance data, and stakeholder survey data.