The most recent Bellingham School District graduates again scored well above  their peers in the nation and in Washington state on the SAT, according to the 2006 scores released by the College Board.

"The SAT is one indicator of how well our students are prepared for college-level coursework and future careers. We are pleased with the performance of our district's students, but know that we need to have more students taking the SAT and mastering the advanced thinking skills that today's employers require," says Superintendent Dale E. Kinsley.

This year's results include scores from students who took the new version of the SAT, offered since March of 2005. Key changes include the addition of a writing section to replace the verbal section of the SAT; the new critical reading section includes reading passages and embeds analogical thought more broadly throughout the section; and quantitative reasoning was dropped from the mathematics test.

Caution should be used when comparing results from year to year.

School	2006 Critical Reading	2006 Writing ('05 Verbal)	2006 Math ('05 Math)	# Test Takers ('05)
Bellingham	553	530 (553)	553   (555)	122 (133)
Sehome	599	577 (575)	603 (574)	142 (130)
Squalicum	538	528 (524)	569 (546)	140 (154)
State	524	508 (529)	530 (533)	29,000 (27,757)
National	500	492 (505)	514 (515)

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