Introduction

For those of you new to Information Works!, please remember that the data is from school year 2005-06, although the assessment reports for elementary and middle schools include the 2006-07 assessment results.

Each year Information Works! displays a wealth of data gathered in the year preceding its publication.

The User’s Guide presents the following information:

1. Each section offers brief, user-friendly explanations for the data on each page, along with a notion of what we consider to be the information’s utility.

2. When relevant, the User's Guide provides the source of the numbers presented and, in some cases, how they were calculated.

3. In some sections, the User's Guide notes the changes that have resulted from state and federal policy refinements, with short explanations of or references to the policy itself.

Information Works! evolves:

Please note the following changes from Information Works! 2006:

Changes in the School and District Reports:

• Assessment results for elementary and middle schools include data from the first two years of NECAP tests, including 2006-07 test results.

• District reports include lists of Regents’ Commended Schools and schools that have been Identified for School Improvement under No Child Left Behind.

• School reports include five years of data on state assessments (index scores).

Changes in the State Report:

• A new section has been added that reports on family and poverty indicators. This section was developed in partnership with Rhode Island Kids Count.

When data could compromise confidentiality

When the number of test-takers drops below 10, the results are considered statistically unreliable and are not reported because they could compromise confidentiality. Small sample numbers make it possible to identify or to invite guessing as to the test results of individual children. Information Works! is about the functioning of schools and districts, not about individual children. Thus, very small classes of test-takers such as those at the Block Island School also not reported.

For charts and tables based on three years of assessment data – that is, tables that use the “index proficiency score” – data are not reported unless the minimum number of test-takers is more than 45 students.