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

Demographics, School Performance

View/download sample report (PDF, 18KB)

This material is the same as in the school reports with these exceptions:

Characteristics of students attending school in this district

Student participation in public school
This pie chart shows, from the student population living in the district, what percentage attend public school, what percentage attend private or parochial school, and what percent is home-instructed. Note that for the two districts that send their students to high school in another district (Jamestown to North Kingstown; Little Compton to Portsmouth), the high-school students are counted here as part of the population of the sending district, not the district in which they attend high school.

Schools in this district whose students met or exceeded the standard

This table compiles the “value-added” data from each of the School Reports within the district. The value-added data shows how well the students in each school performed on each subtest when compared with similar students statewide. For information on value added, see the School Reports Value Added.

School Performance and Improvement

These pie charts and tables show what percentage of the district’s schools fall into each of the state’s performance classifications. See the 2005 Information Works! State Report for an explanation of the Rhode Island accountability system, which determines the school-performance classifications.

One table on the right-hand side shows how many schools in the district are Regents’ Commended Schools. These schools have made progress in both English language arts and mathematics for the past two years.

Another table on the right shows how many (and what percentage of) schools in the district have been “identified for school improvement.” Schools have been identified for improvement if they have made insufficient progress for two years in a row – that is, the second year of insufficient progress marks the first year of identification for improvement. If a school receiving federal Title I money (for high-poverty schools) is identified for improvement, it is subject to sanctions under the No Child Left Behind Act.

• In the first year identified for improvement, parents may choose to send their children to another school in the district (school choice).
• In the second year, students are eligible for free supplemental educational services;
• in the third year, the district devises a plan for “corrective action” to try to improve student performance in the school.

Note that schools that made progress in 2004 may still be “identified for school improvement” if they made insufficient progress during the two previous years.

Also note: For the purposes of identifying schools for improvement under the provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act only, the category “low performing, not improving” as defined under the state’s previous accountability system is considered the equivalent of “insufficient progress” under the current accountability system.

District Classification

On some district reports, a third box on the right-hand side shows a district classification.

Not all districts are classified. Some districts, however, are classified as “in need of improvement.” The are given this classification if:

Either the district as a whole has missed targets at more than one school level or if more than 40 percent of the schools in the district as classified as “in need of improvement – insufficient progress.”