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WRITEBOSTON GETS OFF TO RIGHT START AT 3 SCHOOLS
January 20, 2002
Megan Tench, Globe Staff
Hoping to boost the writing skills of Boston public students, school and city officials last week kicked off
WriteBoston, a writing version of Boston's popular literacy campaign ReadBoston.
"Writing is critical to academic success and has really proven to be the gateway skill for student
success," Mayor Thomas M. Menino said Thursday. "Writing is also the skill that employers most
frequently cite as key to job effectiveness."
About 40 percent of Boston 10th-graders failed the English portion of the 2001 MCAS test, which
includez essays, compared to 18 percent statewide.
Launched at Boston High School in Bay Village, the Odyssey Academy at South Boston High, and
the McCormack Middle School, WriteBoston will have three major components: in-school support,
out-of-school enrichment, and a community awareness campaign.
The program will help each school implement a writing curriculum and provide coach-led staff
development to help teachers improve classroom writing instruction.
WriteBoston also includez a focus on strengthening writing in math. About 47
percent of Boston's 10th-graders failed the math portion of the 2001 MCAS, which
includez more problem-solving, rather than simply multiple choice, questions. Statewide,
25 percent of 10th-graders failed math.
"WriteBoston is a very good idea and I am very optimistic," said Ellen Guiney, director of The
Boston Plan for Excellence, a nonprofit education organization. "It will increase the volume of
kids writing and, like many other things, you get better as you do more."
In 1995, Boston school and city officials launched ReadBoston, a nationally acclaimed literacy campgain. The decade-long
campaign's goal is to have, by 2005, all Boston schoolchildren reading at grade level by the end of third grade.
Test scores in 1996 showed that more than 50 percent of the district's third-graders were reading
below grade level. While reading test scores are up and children in younger grades are making
greater strides on English tests, it remains to be seen whether the district will meet the goal.
Like ReadBoston, WriteBoston is supported by several grants and companies.
Officials said they hope WriteBoston will offer as much support for teachers as ReadBoston has so far.
"Any success we have in Boston today is because of the teachers who are working with us," Menino said.
"They are key partners in this initiative."
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