Photo by Sefton Ipock

Pendleton High School students make their way past a bulletin board of SAT and college information in one of the school's hallways.

Photo by Sefton Ipock

Terry Filippo, the head of the English Department at Pendleton High School, discusses testing with students in one of his adavanced-placement classes Tuesday.

South Carolina high school seniors continued to show improvement this year in their scores on the SAT college entrance exam, officials said Tuesday.

And some Anderson County school systems performed better than the rest of the nation.

The average combined score on the SAT for South Carolina students for critical reading, math and writing was 1,461 this year, up two points from 2007, according to an education department news release.

That edged South Carolina seniors closer this year than in the past to the national average SAT score, which this year was 1,511. According to the College Board, an organization that tracks 10-year SAT trends, the scores show a 34 point improvement in reading and math, and remained one of the nation’s best among states where more than half of the high school seniors take the SAT.

In Anderson School Districts 1, 2 and 4, the average scores exceeded the national average. In Anderson Districts 1 and 4, average scores were 1,540, while those in Anderson 2 were 1,567.

And several area high schools performed above the national average. In Anderson 1, both Palmetto High School, with an average score of 1,547, and Wren High School, with 1,537, performed above average. Belton-Honea Path High in Anderson 2, with an average score of 1,567; Pendleton High in Anderson 4 with 1,540; and T. L. Hanna High in District 5 with an average score of 1,524, all scored above the national average.

In District 1, more students than ever took the test in the administration for which results were released Tuesday. Usually, that means lower scores, said Anderson 1 Superintendent Wayne Fowler.

“Usually when a higher percentage of students take a standardized test, scores go down,” Fowler said. “Even with our high percentage tested, 43 percent our students’ scores improved. This demonstrates our schools’ push to establish a true ‘college-going culture’ for more students. The high expectations established in elementary and middle school and continued through high school are affirmed when one sees the sort of success our students had on both this year’s SAT and ACT (college entrance exam).”

Anderson 4 scores were an all-time high, said interim Superintendent Maurice Lopez.

“Surpassing the national average in both mathematics and critical reading demonstrates that our students are closing the achievement gap with their national counterparts,” Lopez said. “This kind of achievement requires data analysis and commitment from teachers, students, parents, and the leadership. It marks a new record high and validates that the right strategies are in place.”

In District 5, the composite score for just math and reading placed the district among the top eight in the state, according to a district news release. A total of 220 T. L. Hanna students and 60 Westside High students took the test, according to the release. The district’s composite average score of 1,019 — which involves just math and reading — was above the national average of 1,017.

SAT scores for the School District of Pickens County class of 2008 declined this year, officials said. The average combined score this year was 1,497, down 13 points from the 2007 score.

“We are extremely disappointed in our SAT scores,” Superintendent Lee M. D’Andrea said. “We want our students to be competitive at the national level. We will be meeting with our high school and middle school instructional teams to formulate plans for improving.”