Analysis prepared March 2026. Data: DESE / E2C Hub, SY2017–2025. All scores are avg scaled score, Next Gen MCAS scale.
Summary: Waltham's math scores have recovered strongly from the 2021 COVID low,
with grades 3 and 4 at the district level surpassing pre-COVID scores by 2025. ELA recovery has
been weaker — most schools remain below 2019 levels. Improvement is broad across schools rather
than concentrated in one. The Dual Language School shows the strongest improvement trajectory;
James Fitzgerald is consistently the top-performing elementary school.
1. District-Wide Trends — Avg Scaled Score by Grade
ELA
Year
Gr 3
Gr 4
Gr 5
Gr 6
Gr 7
Gr 8
2017
494
494
497
503
503
504
2018
499
497
498
505
495
497
2019
501
500
498
508
502
496
2021
494
493
493
499
492
495
2022
491
488
491
495
491
494
2023
487
489
493
495
493
488
2024
492
487
490
495
490
492
2025
491
491
490
496
494
497
Math
Year
Gr 3
Gr 4
Gr 5
Gr 6
Gr 7
Gr 8
2017
497
494
494
497
497
498
2018
499
495
492
499
493
500
2019
497
501
496
499
499
494
2021
483
485
487
486
489
491
2022
487
493
491
497
491
494
2023
486
492
495
493
492
492
2024
489
492
491
496
492
493
2025
494
496
489
493
494
496
Math grades 3 and 4 are now above pre-COVID (2019) levels — 494 vs 497 (Gr3) and 496 vs 501 (Gr4).
Grade 5 math has not recovered as strongly (489 vs 496 in 2019). ELA lags across all grades.
Note on MacArthur: MacArthur barely dipped in 2021 (494 vs 499 in 2019), making its
"recovery" look small. It was simply the most COVID-resilient school, not a low performer.
4. Cohort Analysis — Math
Each line traces the same group of students across grades (e.g. a 2021 entry-year line shows
that cohort in Gr3 in 2021, Gr4 in 2022, Gr5 in 2023). Solid lines = post-COVID cohorts (2021+);
dashed = pre-COVID.
Elementary Schools
Math avg scaled score by cohort entry year, Grades 3–5. Slopes reflect value-add within each school for that group of students.
Middle Schools
Math avg scaled score by cohort entry year, Grades 6–8.
What cohort slopes tell us:
Dual Language — steepest upward slopes of any school. Every post-COVID cohort gains 11–15 points from Gr3 to Gr5, suggesting strong instructional value-add.
James Fitzgerald — the 2021 cohort showed the biggest single-school recovery (+17 pts Gr3→Gr5). Post-COVID cohorts are tracking steeper than pre-COVID ones.
Douglas MacArthur — consistently steep slopes across all cohorts, pre- and post-COVID. Reliable value-add independent of year.
Henry Whittemore — flattest slopes post-COVID. Cross-section improvement is largely driven by better incoming Gr3 classes, not within-school gains.
Middle schools — Kennedy is remarkably flat and stable. McDevitt shows more variance, with a sharp Gr7 dip in the 2021 cohort before recovering at Gr8.
5. Key Findings
Math recovery is real and broad. Every school improved math scores from 2021 to 2025.
District grades 3 and 4 now exceed pre-COVID levels.
ELA has not recovered. Most schools remain 5–15 points below 2019 ELA scores in 2025.
Henry Whittemore is the furthest from recovery (488 in 2025 vs. 492 in 2019).
Dual Language School shows the strongest math improvement (+14 points since 2021),
though its 2021 starting point was the lowest in the district.
James Fitzgerald is the most consistently high-performing elementary school
in math, peaking at 505 in 2019 and recovering to 499 by 2025.
Douglas MacArthur was the most COVID-resilient school — barely dropped and
has remained stable throughout.
Henry Whittemore had the steepest math drop (−13 points in 2021) and the
slowest recovery trajectory of any elementary school.
