RIDE Strategic Plan
On behalf of high achievement for all students…

Leading and Supporting Schools and Communities
Approved August 1999

Beliefs
We believe that:

• Each individual has equal intrinsic worth as a human being.

• All children can and want to learn and do so in a variety of ways.

• Family is the primary influence on a child's development.

• Higher expectations drive higher achievement.

• Dedicated effort is essential for anyone to achieve at their personal best.

• Individuals are responsible for their choices and actions.

• Individuals in a community are responsible for contributing to the well-being of that community.

• A positive attitude enhances performance and improves relationships among people.

• Honesty and integrity are essential to build trust and a sense of community.

• Collaboration among diverse people and ideas builds and strengthens communities.

• A quality education is a lasting personal treasure that expands opportunities throughout life.

Mission
The mission of the Department of Education 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 do this we will:

• Advocate for coherent public policy,

• Enhance local capacity to improve teaching and learning,

• Sustain an effective accountability system by building innovative partnerships which create positive change.

Parameters

• Preference for resource allocation and technical assistance will be to needier and lower-performing schools.

• We will always initiate our relationship with a school through its district.

• No new program or service will be accepted unless it is consistent with the strategic plan, its benefits clearly exceed the cost, and provisions are made for professional development and program evaluation.

• No program will be retained unless its benefits continue to exceed its cost and it makes optimum contribution to the mission.

• All school improvement targets will be ambitious challenges to current levels of achievement.

• We will always be respectful of our clients and partners and their efforts on behalf of children.

Objectives

• By 2005, no less than 90 percent of fourth-grade students will meet or exceed state proficiency standards in English language arts and mathematics.

• By 2003, the percentage of Rhode Island students who do not meet or exceed state proficiency standards in English language arts, mathematics, and health will be reduced by half.

• By 2003, all schools will meet or exceed their improvement targets for student learning.

• By 2001, 100 percent of districts and schools will have quality strategic and school improvement plans that clearly state their mission, objectives, strategies, targeted resources, and means to measure progress in closing gaps in student performance, reaching high standards, successful entry into careers, and increasing graduation rates.

Strategies
We will:

• Advocate for increased, targeted resources and equitable distribution of resources to ensure that all schools have the capacity to attain their negotiated improvement targets.

• Establish an early childhood partnership which focuses community resources and educators to prepare children to meet performance standards by grade 4

• Facilitate the establishment of partnerships between schools and businesses so that students can achieve at high levels and graduate prepared to enter the workforce and/or post-secondary education programs.

• Work with partners to put in place a statewide system of teacher and school support that results in improved teaching and learning.

• Develop and implement information-rich public engagement strategies that build knowledge about and support for improved school performance.

• Expand the department's capacity to assist school districts and schools in developing and effectively implementing quality strategic and school improvement plans.

• Organize the department (our people, resources, professional development and time) to best achieve our mission and objectives.

Deciding the Future
The Rhode Department of Education (RIDE) is continuously examining its role on behalf of our state's students, schools, and communities as we move to establish and achieve high standards for all students. The statewide direction for education provided by Rhode Island's Comprehensive Education Strategy and affirmed by the passage of Budget Article 31 offers the optimal context for deciding, with our partners, stakeholders, and clients, both what our agency will achieve and the deliberate actions we will take to accomplish it in the upcoming years. Within this context, our enterprise is continuously organizing to strengthen schools' capacity to meet the needs of all students and improve student achievement. In inviting others to join RIDE in strategic planning, RIDE committed its agency to ongoing improvement by engaging strategically with our partners to best accomplish this critical work.

This strategic plan reflects the shared thinking of a cross-section of Rhode Island educators, parents, agency providers, and policy-makers devoted to the education of Rhode Island students. Their 29-member planning team first met in January 1998 to identify common ground and begin a plan for continual strategic organization of the Rhode Island Department of Education.

Six action teams comprised of more than 80 individuals were recruited in the spring of 1998 and convened over several months to create plans for turning the vision of the planning team into reality. Each action team developed a set of detailed action results and steps, as well as a cost benefit analysis, for one of the first six strategies in this plan. Action team leaders presented their groups' work as draft recommendations to the planning team in its second session, held in September 1998, and continued in November 1998. Implementation of the seventh strategy began in the spring and summer of 1999 through a series of systematic decision-making processes. This plan, including its 32 action plans, reports the consensus decisions of the planning team in its final deliberations.

For more information about this strategic plan, please contact Elliot Krieger, Rhode Island Department of Education.
Email: elliotkrieger@ride.ri.gov  phone: (401)222-8471.

Thank You

Our deepest gratitude goes to the following members of the planning team who devoted their time, experience, and perspective to initiate this strategic plan.

JACKIE ASCRIZZI
CELESTE BILOTTI
DENNIS CHEEK
VIRGINIA daMOTA
KATHERINE DENNARD
MICHAEL DiBIASE
STEVE FIELDING
KEN FISH
TODD FLAHERTY
GORDON FOX
TONI GIBBS
SOCORRO GOMEZ-POTTER
JANE HAYWARD
BOB HICKS
PATRICIA HOULIHAN
STEPHEN HULBERT
GENEVA SINGLETARY JOHNSON
JIM KARON
FRED LIPPITT
JUDY MARMARIS-MALONEY
BOB MASON
PETER McWALTERS
DEBORAH MELINO-WENDOR
DANIEL MESSIER
TONY PIRES
PAULA ROSSI
MARY ELLEN SACCO
SHARON SALISBURY
DIANE SCHAEFER
INA WOOLMAN