CORDELE — The Georgia Department of Education recently released its annual district and individual school scores for each graduating class in standardized testing.

Both Crisp County and Dooly County showed regression in test scores from 2016 to 2017 in the ACT, a college readiness test many academic institutions use during the admission process.

The ACT is made up of four subjects — English, Math, Reading and Scientific Reasoning. Each section is scored from 1-36 with a composite score being the average of the four.

For 2017, the state average was a composite score of 21.4, higher than the national average of 21.

Crisp County scored a 17.8 in 2017, although below the score average for the state it ranked in the middle of the pack as 190 out of 379 schools with reported scores.

Dooly County’s combined ACT score was 16. The school district had a total of 26 students take the test last year and ranked as the 18th lowest scoring school in the state.

Last year, Crisp County ACT scores surpassed 18, while Dooly sat at 16.6.

Wilcox County, having 36 take the ACT in last year’s graduating class scored 18.9, putting them ranked at 144. The school improved by more than a point from the 2016 graduating class.

Traditionally, the GDOE will have scores for both SAT and ACT released around the same time; however, the latest data available is 2016 for the SAT.

In the press release, Georgia State Superintendent Richard Woods, who is set to visit Crisp County High School on October 5th said, “Georgia students continue to increase their scores – and outpace the nation – on the ACT. This is a testament to the hard work of Georgia’s students and educators as they enjoy greater flexibility and fewer state restrictions in the classroom. We are seeing our students’ performance trending upward on multiple indicators of academic achievement, and seeing positive signs like a four-percentage-point jump in the percentage of students meeting the College Readiness Benchmark for reading is encouraging as we continue to focus on literacy.”

The drop for the schools is not a major concern as testing classes have ebbs and flows. Residents and parents of students can look at the scores from 2015 and see all three schools have an average of almost one point improvement in the last two years.