In a school district where more than one-third of the student population speaks English as a second language teachers and students in sixth-10th grade can brag about high English scores on the 2009 Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System exams.
In fact, Waltham 10th-graders are sneaking up on their peers in the Newton public school system in English/language arts, according to the recently released numbers by the state Department of Education.
This year, 38 percent of Waltham sophomores scored in the advanced/above proficient level on the English/language arts section of the MCAS exam, compared to 43 percent of Newton sophomores both beating the statewide average of 29 percent.
Forty six percent of Waltham's 10th-graders scored proficient, 12 percent are in the needs improvement category and 4 percent are in the warning/failing level.
The new scores represent a 5 percent improvement from last year in advanced/above proficient level for 10th-graders, said Alexander Wyeth, Waltham's assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction.
"That's a big improvement. People at the high school are very excited. It's well-deserved," Wyeth said, adding that the 10th-grade exam is the "high stakes" MCAS, since students need to pass it to graduate.
On the first day of school Thomas O'Toole, English department director for sixth through 12th grade, said he knew of the high scores in the English/language arts and couldn't wait to brag about students' performance.
"Those scores are up 26 percent in my seven years in Waltham, and the Waltham High School advanced score is (38) percent, with an additional 10 percent of the students missing by one or two points, so the good news there is that half of the entire grade 10 class at Waltham High School is writing at or near the advanced level," O'Toole said.
O'Toole attributed the improved scores to innovative teaching efforts, like an English program two Waltham teachers created seven years ago that involves color-coding writing. Students identify supporting details with green, analysis and commentary with blue, and a thesis statement and structural ideas with pink, for instance, O'Toole said.
"They can see what a transitional phrase looks like. The kids like it. Color is the iconic language bridge," O'Toole said.
Although color-coded writing is only one program used to improve English scores, O'Toole said, "you begin to see an up-tick in scores right around the time it started."
"For us to have more than tripled the number of advanced scores it's a huge accomplishment for kids, and it's always (indicative of) good instruction," O'Toole said.
Other grades in Waltham also fared well on the English/language arts portion of the MCAS exam, beating the statewide average for advanced/above proficient scores, including 22 percent of sixth-graders, 15 percent of seventh-graders, and 27 percent of eighth-graders.
Third- through fifth-graders, however scored below the state average in reading, English and math, which Wyeth attributes to the district's high percentage of students whose second language is English.
"It's our second-language learners and special education students who struggle the most with the test," Wyeth said. "It's a difficult test for kids, and especially hard because our (English language learners) students haven't had time to get acclimated there you test them when they're fresh to the whole system."
The district has been struggling to make big strides with MCAS scores among third-graders in particular, he said.
The number of English language learners students increases every year, he said. Across the district, nearly 20 percent of Waltham students fall under special education and 36 percent are from low-income families, Wyeth said. Ten percent are considered limitedly proficient in English, meaning their English is limited in speaking, reading, writing and comprehension, he said.
"It's been very, very slow, hard progress. We're not happy with that, we'd like to see a lot more students scoring proficient or above in English," said Wyeth.
Joyce Kelly can be reached at 781-398-8005 or jkelly@cnc.com.
