Guest MINDSETTER™ Casimiro: Failed RICAS Results & High School Start Times

Guest MINDSETTER™ Casimiro: Failed RICAS Results & High School Start Times

Many different reasons, some say excuses, have been bandied around in the press and on social media regarding why our state’s scores were so disappointing.  Some of these theories have substantial weight, while others do not.  Yet, there is one aspect to our children’s education that I did not see publicly discussed at all and I think it could have a significant impact on our state’s dismal education scores.

I am talking about the all too early high school start times that are truly hampering our kids’ ability to learn.

As the Chairwoman of the House Commission Studying High School Start Times, I have listened to numerous educational and health experts who are shouting to the high heavens that our high school start times are having a detrimental effect not only on our kids’ health, but also their ability to learn in the classroom.

We were also shown data that demonstrated a correlation in later high school start times and higher grades and rates of attendance and graduation, due to improved mood and performance from getting more sleep. Numerous studies that involved both surveys on the subject and actually experimenting with later start times further demonstrated to us its benefits.

The evidence and data presented to the commission was highly compelling and the commission came to a clear consensus that our early high school start times are affecting our children in numerous negative ways.  If we want our children to succeed in their educations, we need to provide them with the most optimal and beneficial learning environment and that very much includes proper start times that allow our children to go to school well-rested and ready to comprehend and retain the information being presented to them in the classroom.

While we search for answers and remedies to our standardized testing failures, I urge all stakeholders to also consider the impact of our early high school start times and to contemplate how our state’s scores could improve if our children were well rested and ready to learn when they arrived at school.

Julie Casimiro, a Democrat, represents District 31 in the House of Representatives.  She resides in North Kingstown.

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2017-2018 RICAS Math Rankings for "Meeting or Exceeding Expectations"

#48

Central Falls

Students Meeting or Exceeding Expectations:

6.9%

#47

Highlander

Students Meeting or Exceeding Expectations:

9.54%

#46

Providence

Students Meeting or Exceeding Expectations:

10.3%

#45

Woonsocket

Students Meeting or Exceeding Expectations:

11.45%

#44

Segue Institute for Learning

Students Meeting or Exceeding Expectations:

13.25%

#43

Southside Charter

Students Meeting or Exceeding Expectations:

13.64%

#42

Beacon Charter

Students Meeting or Exceeding Expectations:

14.73%

#41

West Warwick

Students Meeting or Exceeding Expectations:

15.98%

#40

Pawtucket

Students Meeting or Exceeding Expectations:

17.21%

#39

Burrillville

Students Meeting or Exceeding Expectations:

17.48%

#38

Newport

Students Meeting or Exceeding Expectations:

19.39%

#37

Paul Cuffee Charter School

Students Meeting or Exceeding Expectations:

19.84

#36

North Providence

Students Meeting or Exceeding Expectations:

20.7%

#35

The Hope Academy

Students Meeting or Exceeding Expectations:

22.22%

#34

Johnston

Students Meeting or Exceeding Expectations:

22.3%

#33

International Charter School

Students Meeting or Exceeding Expectations:

22.55%

#32

Cranston

Students Meeting or Exceeding Expectations:

22.89%

#31

East Providence

Students Meeting or Exceeding Expectations:

25.42%

#30

Foster

Students Meeting or Exceeding Expectations:

25.68%

#29

Warwick

Students Meeting or Exceeding Expectations:

26.72%

#28

Coventry

Students Meeting or Exceeding Expectations:

29.05%

#27

Foster-Glocester

Students Meeting or Exceeding Expectations:

29.26%

#26

Scituate

Students Meeting or Exceeding Expectations:

32.32%

#25

Learning Community

Students Meeting or Exceeding Expectations:

33.06%

#24

Westerly

Students Meeting or Exceeding Expectations:

33.15%

#23

Middletown

Students Meeting or Exceeding Expectations:

34.51%

#22

Tiverton

Students Meeting or Exceeding Expectations:

34.6%

#21

Smithfield

Students Meeting or Exceeding Expectations:

38.65%

#20

Bristol-Warren

Students Meeting or Exceeding Expectations:

39.5%

#19

New Shoreham

Students Meeting or Exceeding Expectations:

40.48%

#18

Lincoln

Students Meeting or Exceeding Expectations:

41.81%

#17

Blackstone Valley Prep Mayoral Academy

Students Meeting or Exceeding Expectations:

42.21%

#16

North Smithfield

Students Meeting or Exceeding Expectations:

44.46%

#15

Chariho

Students Meeting or Exceeding Expectations:

44.85%

#14

Narragansett

Students Meeting or Exceeding Expectations:

45.58%

#13

Little Compton

Students Meeting or Exceeding Expectations:

46.01%

#12

South Kingstown 

Students Meeting or Exceeding Expectations:

46.32%

#11

Exeter-West Greenwich

Students Meeting or Exceeding Expectations:

46.92%

#10

Portsmouth

Students Meeting or Exceeding Expectations:

47.33%

#9

North Kingstown

Students Meeting or Exceeding Expectations:

47.46%

#8

Compass School

Students Meeting or Exceeding Expectations:

49.15%

#7

Cumberland

Students Meeting or Exceeding Expectations:

49.88%

#6

Glocester

Students Meeting or Exceeding Expectations:

50.7%

#5

East Greenwich

Students Meeting or Exceeding Expectations:

53.43%

#4

Achievement First

Students Meeting or Exceeding Expectations:

55.77%

#3

Jamestown

Students Meeting or Exceeding Expectations:

60%

#2

Barrington 

Students Meeting or Exceeding Expectations:

60.6%

#1

Kingston Hill

Students Meeting or Exceeding Expectations:

67.01%