Rhode Island Schools: The Basic Facts
WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING ATThese charts give information about the public schools in Rhode Island, the students who attend these schools, and the teachers who teach in them. The Profile of Public Schools gives an overall census of the Rhode Island public schools for the year 2004-05. The pie charts show the information about the students attending schools in Rhode Island. The Kids Count table contains information about the economic status of families with children; the table compares Rhode Island with the other New England states, and it shows how each of the states compares with the nation as a whole. WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FORYou are looking to get a sense of the composition, diversity, and economic status of school population in Rhode Island. Profile of Rhode Island Public SchoolsTeachersThe first set of numbers shown (headcounts) is an actual count of all teachers in the Rhode Island public schools. The second set (FTEs) shows the number of teachers computed as full-time equivalents: a teacher working half-time counts as 0.5 FTEs, for example. This FTE figure is used for certain computations elsewhere in this report. For example, we use FTEs rather than the actual count to determine the teacher-student ratios. Public SchoolsIn the 2004-05 school year there were 324 public schools in Rhode Island: The state’s local school districts operated 306 public schools plus 3 public charter schools: Textron Chamber of Commerce Academy and Times2 Academy, both in the Providence School District, and the New England Laborers/Cranston Public Schools Construction Careers Academy. The state operates 4 schools: the Rhode Island School for the Deaf, the William M. Davies Jr. Career-Technical High School, and The Metropolitan Regional Career & Technical Center (The Met), which are operated by Boards of Trustees, and the Rhode Island Training School for Youth, which is operated by the Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth, and Families. In the 2004-05 school year, there were 8 independently operated public charter schools; each of these schools functions in effect as its own school district: The Learning Community, in Central Falls; CVS Highlander Charter Elementary School and Paul Cuffee Charter School, both in Providence; International Charter School, in Pawtucket; the Compass Charter School and the Kingston Hill Academy, both in South Kingstown; and the BEACON Charter School, in Woonsocket. The Urban Collaborative Accelerated Program is a public school. There are 4 other regional collaboratives, which provide special-education and alternative-education services for children in the districts within their region. These collaboratives are considered regional programs rather than schools. There are 2 publicly operated early-childhood centers (preschools). These two public schools are not subject to the accountability provisions of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, nor do they receive school-performance classifications through the Rhode Island accountability system. In addition to the 324 public schools: There are 8 Area Career & Technical Schools operated by school districts:
These are not stand-alone high schools; they are operated by school districts, and they enroll students from outside the district. Each has its own school report, however student test scores are attributed to the high school where the student takes core academic subjects. None of these Area Career & Technical Schools receives a school-performance classification. School DistrictsIn 2004-05 there were 36 locally operated public school districts, including four regional districts (Bristol Warren, Chariho, Exeter-West Greenwich, Foster-Glocester). Each of the 4 schools operated by the state is a state school district. Each of the independently operated 8 public charter schools is a charter school district. Characteristics of Students Attending School in Rhode IslandParticipation in public schoolPublic charter: The percentage of Rhode Island’s students who are enrolled in charter schools, whether independently operated or operated by a school district, as of October 2004. Other public schools: The percentage of Rhode Island’s students who are enrolled in public schools operated by a district, as of October 2004, exclusive of those enrolled in public charter schools. Home schooled: The percentage of students who have received permission from the school committee of their local district to be instructed at home according to the provisions of Section 16-19-2 of the General Laws of Rhode Island, as of October 2004. Nonpublic: The percentage of students who attend private or parochial schools, as of October 2004. Eligibility for subsidized lunchEligible for free or reduced-price lunch: Students whose family incomes fall below certain income (poverty or near-poverty) guidelines. This measure indicates the percent of students who were eligible for free or reduced-price lunches in October 2004. Not Eligible: Students whose family income falls outside the low-income guidelines as of October 2004. Ethnic backgroundAfrican-American: A student having origins in any of the African-American racial groups, not including people of Hispanic origins. Asian: A student having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Pacific Islands, e.g., China, Japan, Korea, the Philippine Islands, and Samoa. Hispanic: A student of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, or Central or South American or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race. Native American: A student having origins in any of the original peoples of North America, including American Indians, Eskimos, and Aleuts. White: A student having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, or the Indian subcontinent. Receiving ESL or bilingual educationBilingual: A student who receives instruction in English and another language to support content-area learning while learning English as a second language. English as a Second Language: A student who receives content-area instruction solely in English while learning English as a second language. Receiving special-education servicesSelf-contained: Percent of the state’s students in self-contained special-education classes, in which instruction is provided by a special educator in a separate special-education setting for more than half of the instructional day. Resource: Percent of the state’s students in resource special education, in which instruction is provided by a special educator for less than half of the instructional day. Other programs: Percent of the state’s students who receive special-education services through other delivery arrangements.
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