“Working Together to Bring All Students to Proficiency"

The mission of the R.I. Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (RIDE) is “to lead and support schools and communities in ensuring that all students achieve at the high levels needed to lead fulfilling and productive lives, to compete in academic and employment settings, and to contribute to society.” 

To fulfill this mission, RIDE, led by the Commissioner of Education, under the direction of the Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education, has adopted these seven priorities:

• Alignment: Aligning curriculum, teaching, and testing for all learners to agreed-upon expectations or standards
• Educator Quality: Continuously improving the skills and performance of the education workforce in Rhode Island
• Information Systems: Promoting information-based decisions to improve public-education outcomes
• Accountability: Through support and intervention, holding adults and schools accountable for student results
• Equity and Efficiency: Making our education system more equitable, effective, and efficient
• Family Engagement: Engaging families and communities in the improvement of public schools
• School Safety and Personalization: Providing safe and supportive environments for students and staff members in schools

RIDE provides leadership and support to the state’s education community through its 10 offices: Adult Education, Assessment & Accountability, Educator Quality and Certification, Finance, Instruction, Middle & High School Reform, Network & Information Systems, Progressive Support and Intervention, Special Populations, and the Office of the Commissioner. These offices work in consort to advocate for a coherent public policy on education, to enhance local capacity to improve teaching and learning, to sustain an effective accountability system, and to build innovative partnerships that create positive change.

RIDE Accomplishments and Indicators of Progress

Since 1997, when the General Assembly passed the landmark education-reform act known as Article 31, Rhode Island has made many wise investments in building an education system based on high standards and accountability. Over the course of the past decade, RIDE has:

• Adopted grade-level standards in English, mathematics, and science
• With two partner states, implemented an assessment system based on those standards
• Put in place an accountability system that classifies schools and districts
• Published annual reports on all schools and districts
• Established a statewide system for monitoring school finances
• Conducted annual surveys of all students, teachers, and parents
• Put in place a new diploma system based on proficiency-based requirements
• Pioneered a new process for teacher certification based on individual plans
• Approved a statewide improvement plan for students with disabilities
• Hired specialists in reading, mathematics, science, and leadership
• Coordinated student-health initiatives with partner agencies
• Promoted reforms in school financing and savings through economies of scale
• Created and staffed an office to improve adult basic education services
• Created and staffed an office to work with districts that have missed annual targets
• Intervened in and restructured schools that have consistently missed targets
• Established a database system that individually identifies each student
• Begun to build a data warehouse to maintain and make accessible all education data

The Three Rhode Islands

Despite these accomplishments, we have a long way to go to meet our goal (and the national goal) of bringing all students to the level of proficiency. The latest round of tests showed that about half of our students have achieved proficiency in mathematics and about 60 percent have achieved proficiency in reading.

These are average scores, and they do not tell the whole story. On state tests and national tests, the same picture emerges. Our suburban school districts and our “urban fringe” districts perform as well as or better than the nation as a whole. In fact, as the table above shows you, our suburban or “rural” school districts are performing better than similar districts nationwide. (Data source: U.S. Department of Education – National Assessment of Educational Progress 2005) 

But the urban or “central city” districts, where most of our students in poverty and English-language learners reside, perform well below the national average – and worse than similar districts nationwide.

Therefore, if we hope to improve our statewide test scores we must continue to target education aid toward our urban districts and we must support these districts in their school-improvement efforts.

RIDE Initiatives and Objectives for the Current Year

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), which was signed into law in 2002, has radically changed the work of virtually every subprogram at RIDE. The law mandates that all states test all students in grades 3 through 8 plus one high-school grade, report test results for many groups of students (by race and ethnic status, poverty status, disability status, and English-language learners), and impose a series of sanctions and interventions on schools and districts that miss their annual targets.

All RIDE offices work together to implement the RIDE Comprehensive Education Strategy so as to ensure that all students achieve at high levels. These are two of the key initiatives under way at RIDE:

Changing Our High Schools: The Rhode Island Diploma System

Background: In January 2003, the Board of Regents passed landmark regulations “regarding public high schools and ensuring literacy for students entering high school,” also known as the Regents’ High School Reform Initiative. These regulations have three components:

• Literacy: All districts must determine which students – at all school levels – are reading below their grade level and that they develop mechanisms to support these students and bring their literacy up to grade level.

• Proficiency-based graduation requirements: All high schools in the state must develop new graduation requirements based on proficiency (rather than on the number of courses completed)

• Personalization: All districts must develop strategies for transforming their high schools into “more personalized learning environments.”

 

This year: Shortly after the regulations went into effect, RIDE issued extensive guidance to the districts regarding implementation of all three facets of the regulations. In the spring of 2006, each district submitted to Commissioner McWalters a detailed plan, with supportive evidence, explaining its implementation of a new Diploma System that incorporates Proficiency-Based Graduation Requirements and student demonstrations of proficiency through such means as senior projects or portfolios. The Commissioner reviewed the evidence from each district based on five criteria: Proficiency-Based Graduation Requirements, Support to Students, Support to Teachers, Communications, and Policy and Data. Each district received a letter detailing what work they must do to fully implement a new Diploma System effective for the Class of 2008.

The outlook: Because all districts must have a new Diploma System in effect for the graduating class of 2008, RIDE will work intensively with districts during FY 2008 to ensure that all districts pass all aspects of the final Commissioner’s Review. RIDE staff members will offer training and technical assistance to all districts, and RIDE will work with the New England Center for Assessment to ensure that the graduation requirements across the state are sufficient, fair, consistent, comparable, coherent, and aligned with state standards.

Helping Schools and Districts in Greatest Need: Progressive Support and Intervention

Background: The NCLB Act requires that the state take action when schools or districts are deemed to be “in need of improvement” for two consecutive years. This requirement is in consort with already existing state law, notably the Rhode Island Student Investment Initiative: Intervention and Support for Failing Schools (R.I.G.L. 16-7.1-5).

But unlike state law, the NCLB Act is quite prescriptive about when schools are considered to be “in need of improvement” and about what steps the state must take to help these schools. The law places the primary responsibility for school improvement on the districts; when schools miss their annual targets for four consecutive years, however, the state takes a more active role, as the school is placed in “corrective action” status. The state then works with the district to develop and implement a “corrective action plan.” If schools miss their annual targets for more than four consecutive years, the school is subject to “restructuring,” which can involve direct intervention by the state.

To meet the needs of both state and federal law, RIDE established a new subprogram in FY 2005, the Office of Progressive Support & Intervention (PS&I). Drawing on staff members from many program offices at RIDE, the PS&I Office has formed  teams of experts to work directly with the districts that have been placed in Intervention Status.

This year: At present, four districts are in intervention status: Central Falls, Pawtucket, Providence, and Woonsocket. RIDE has focused its efforts in Providence on the middle schools, which have been assigned “turnaround coaches,” and on the Hope High School complex, which has been restructured under orders from the Commissioner and under the oversight of a “special master.” RIDE assigned “leadership mentors” to Central Falls High School and to the Woonsocket Middle School to support leadership and reorganization efforts in these challenged schools, and a leadership coordinator was assigned to work at the administrative level in the Pawtucket School District. RIDE will continue with these projects to develop school leaders and model classroom practices in the intervention districts.

The outlook: As we move toward our goal of bringing all students to proficiency by the year 2014, annual targets for all schools and districts will continue to rise in a series of graduated steps. It is certain that by FY 2008 an increasing number of schools will have missed annual targets for two or more consecutive years. Inevitably, more districts will be identified for improvement, putting an increasing strain on the resources and capacity of RIDE as we work to fulfill our agency goal.

Other RIDE Initiatives for the Current Year

Other RIDE initiatives currently under way include:

Science Education: Develop the first statewide science curriculum and the first state assessments in science

The Comprehensive Education Information System: Provide funding incentives to bring all districts into the statewide Student Information System and training for educators in the use of online analytical tools to track student performance

State Assessments: Development of the first NECAP high-school assessment (in conjunction with our partner states, New Hampshire and Vermont)

Students with Diverse Learning Needs: Build the capacity of districts to address diverse learning needs and to include children from special populations in general education, thereby improving student performance

Statewide Financial Efficiencies: Build the capacity to assist districts and charter schools with significant budget deficits and develop new and more streamlined procurement practices

Adult Basic Education: Establish the first unified workforce-development and adult-education state plan and policies, in partnership with the Governor’s Workforce Board

Individualized Professional Development Plans (I-Plans): Train 3,000 educators and 30 I-Plan reviewers to continue with the implementation of I-Plans as the procedure for renewal of educator certifications