The Rhode Island Growth Model

The Rhode Island Growth Model (RIGM) is a statistical model that provides a new way of looking at student achievement. The Growth Model enables us to look at growth in addition to proficiency to get a fuller picture of student achievement.

Using this model, we will be able to calculate students’ progress relative to their academic peers using the RICAS (Rhode Island Comprehensive Assessment System) and SAT School Day results for mathematics and English language arts beginning in Fall, 2019. Two years of student results are needed to complete the growth calculations.

Academic peers are students who have scored similarly on these assessments in the past. The Growth Model provides students, parents, teachers, districts, and the state with another piece of data that contributes to a fuller, more descriptive picture of student achievement. Because all students’ scores are compared only to those of their academic peers, students at every level of proficiency have the opportunity to demonstrate growth in their achievement.