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HARWICH - Faculty at Cape Cod Regional Technical High School are reaping the rewards today of a schoolwide literacy initiative: a 20 percent jump in last year for English scores on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System test.

The Lower Cape technical school's MCAS results, which showed 84 percent of students receiving scores of advanced or proficient, are a point of pride for Supt. Robert Sanborn, especially because more than 30 percent of its pupils are special-needs students.

"We're extremely proud of our faculty," Sanborn said. "We have many high needs students that are getting over the bar."

Officials from the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education today released results from this year's MCAS test. Students in grades 3 through 8 and grade 10 were given tests in math and English. Students in grades 5, 8, and 10 also took science tests.

The grade 10 test is arguably most important, since high school diplomas are contingent on successful passage of the English, math and science MCAS tests.

Barnstable High School saw increases in English as well as science, state test results showed. The 8 percent increase in science scores from last year can be attributed to an increased focus on science, technology and engineering since passing the science test became mandatory for all students in order to graduate, said Supt. Mary Czajkowski.

"With respect to BHS and science … we do have more students taking advanced placement courses," Czajkowski said.

Hyannis West Elementary School improved its overall math score by 11 percent, but students scored 10 percent below last year in English.

"In the (Hyannis West) situation we have about 30 percent of children where English is not the language spoken in the home," Czajkowski said. However, the school employs an elementary math specialist and two math tutors, who, she said, contributed to rising math scores.