Lake Washington School District SAT scores continue to increase

Kathryn Reith, LWSD Director of Communications says....

Over the last five years, average SAT scores in Washington State and nationally have fallen or remained the same. At the same time, Lake Washington’s average scores have increased 11 in math, 13 in critical reading and 14 in writing on average.

“We are seeing steady, sustained improvement in SAT scores,” noted Dr. Chip Kimball, superintendent. “Hard work by our teachers and students led to the continuous improvement we are after.”   Read More.

This year, the largest increase came in writing scores. LWSD college-bound seniors averaged 555 in writing, up four points from 551 in 2009. The mean for all college-bound seniors who took the test is 492, down one point from 2009. Washington state students scored 508 on average, up one point. Lake Washington students have improved their mean score every year in the five years since the writing test began.

Mean math scores decreased by one point for LWSD college-bound seniors, from 574 in 2009 to 573 in 2010 after a four point jump from 2008 to 2009. State scores averaged 532, up from 531, and scores for all students who took the SAT averaged 516, up one point from 2009.

Scores for Lake Washington seniors rose one point on average in critical reading. They averaged 560 in 2010, up from 559 in 2009. That score compares to 524 for all students statewide and 501 for all students who took the SAT. Washington and national scores were the same as the previous year.

The number of district students taking the test did fall slightly this year, from 1174 in 2008 to 1123 in 2009.