RI Schools: The Basic Facts
Profile of Schools, Student Characteristics,
   and Kids Count

Learning and Achievement
Assessments
Disaggregations
Accountability
How Rhode Island Classifies Schools
2004 School-Performance Classification:
Elementary  |Middle  |High

Using Information
State Indicators
Value Added:
Elementary  |Middle  |High
Attendance and Graduation Rates,
Learning Support Indicators:
Elementary  |Middle  |High

Safe and Supportive Environments
Students' Point of View:Middle  |High
Suspensions

Equity and Adequacy of Resources
Property Value/Student Compared to
   Tax Rate
Tax Capacity and Effort
In$ite: Including Other Commitments
In$ite: Excluding Other Commitments
Out-of-District Obligations
In$ite: Instruction
In$ite: General Education
Middle  |High

Curriculum and Instruction
Advanced Placement Exams
Teaching Practices:
Elementary  |Middle  |High
Inclusion
Students with Disabilities
Students with Disabilities: Participation
Elementary  |Middle  |High
Students with Disabilities: Participation by District
Elementary  |Middle  |High

Engaging Families
Elementary  |Middle  |High

Additional Teacher-Quality Indicators

Teachers with emergency certification: Individuals who do not qualify for full state certification may be granted an emergency certificate to teach in the public schools, upon written request of the Superintendent of Schools, when fully certified applicants are not available. The Superintendents must advertise for certified candidates in the statewide newspaper and must contact local colleges and universities with educator-preparation programs.

Classes not taught by highly qualified teachers: “Highly Qualified Teacher” is a term introduced by the No Child Left Behind Act. Within the guidelines of that federal law, each state was allowed to establish its own criteria for determining if a teacher is “highly qualified.” The criteria in use in Rhode Islande are posted on the RIDE Web site, www.ridoe.net, under “Teacher Certification.” RIDE surveys all teachers in core subject areas to determine what percentage of classes are taught by “highly qualified teachers”; note that a teacher may be highly qualified in one subject he or she teaches, but not in another (e.g., a science teacher may be highly qualified in biology but not in physics).

Grievances: the number of grievances filed by teachers in the building in 2001-02, alongside the number of grievances filed by teachers in the district and the number statewide at this school level (elementary, middle, or high school).

Teacher Attendance: The teacher attendance rate reflects the percentage of time the average full-time teacher was present within the 180-day school year. This number was calculated using the number of “sick days” that accounted for teacher absences. The attendance rate is also reported for the district and for the state, by school level (elementary, middle, or high school).

Time Out of Class: This is reported as a total and by three subsets (time out of class for professional development, for medical reasons, and for other reasons). Time out of class is not necessarily the inverse of teacher attendance; teachers may be counted as in attendance while they are involved in out-of-classroom teacher training or in union activities, for example.