NEW: Latino Policy Institute Says "Stop Blaming Students" for RICAS Scores

NEW: Latino Policy Institute Says "Stop Blaming Students" for RICAS Scores

As GoLocalProv reported on Tuesday, statewide proficiency in the 2019 RICAS test increased by 3 to 4 percent over last year -- and as the Latino Policy Institute pointed out, a closer look at the test scores demonstrates that low-income districts serving primarily students of color and English language learners continue to vastly underperform compared to their wealthier, predominantly white counterparts. 

"It is imperative that as we look at these results we stop blaming students – especially those represented in the subgroups – for the low scores, and instead hold the districts and state accountable as the main providers of programming, curriculum, and overall school culture," said Marcela Betancur, Director of the Latino Policy Institute.

RANKINGS: ELA -- Best and Worst Performing Districts and Charters

RANKINGS: Math -- Best and Worst Performing Districts and Charters

Glaring Achievement Gaps

According to RIDE, Rhode Island continues to face significant equity gaps -- on both ELA and math, differently-abled and multilingual learners are performing at single-digit proficiency levels.

“It is limiting that we continue to use RICAS scores to evaluate learning outcomes for English language learners when many of these students are being tested in English, a language which by their very status these students are not yet proficient in,” Betancur added. 

As part of the release, RIDE also shared with school communities their results for ACCESS and Dynamic Learning Maps (DLM), assessments given specifically to multilingual learners and students with significant cognitive differences. 

On ACCESS, Rhode Island saw nearly single-digit proficiency across the board. On DLM, 24 percent of students tested met their target in ELA, 12 percent in math, and 16 percent in science. More detailed results can be viewed in a presentation given this week to LEA leaders.

With PSAT/SAT and RICAS results complete, RIDE will begin preparing for the release of 2019 accountability results. The accountability release is expected by the end of November.

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RICAS 2018-2019 ELA Rankings: RI’s Top - and Worst - Districts and Charters

#50

Central Falls

Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 

12.62%

#49

Woonsocket

Students meeting or exceeding expectations:

14.10%

#48

Beacon Charter School 

Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 

14.49%

#47

Trinity Academy for Performing Arts

Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 

15.28%

#46

Providence

Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 

17.22%

#45

Pawtucket

Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 

24.33%

#44

West Warwick

Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 

24.47%

#43

Segue Institute for Learning

Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 

24.89%

#42

Newport

Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 

25.49%

#41

Southside Charter School

Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 

22.73%

#40

Paul Cuffee Charter School

Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 

27.84%

#39

Highlander Charter School

Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 

29.01%

#38

The Hope Academy

Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 

29.17%

#37

Burrillville

Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 

29.85%

#36

International Charter School

Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 

31.76%

#35

East Providence

Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 

35.49%

#34

Johnston

Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 

36.12%

#33

Warwick 

Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 

37.90%

#32

Middletown

Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 

39.51%

#31

Cranston

Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 

41.13%

#30

Learning Community

Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 

41.67%

#29

North Providence

Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 

42.09%

#28

Foster

Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 

44.03%

#27

Little Compton

Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 

46.63%

#26

Tiverton

Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 

47.26%

#25

Lincoln

Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 

47.35%

#24

Blackstone Valley Prep Mayoral Academy

Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 

48.83%

#23

Coventry

Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 

50.17%

#22

Westerly

Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 

51.84%

#21

Bristol-Warren

Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 

51.97%

#20

Narragansett

Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 

52.79%

#19

Foster-Glocester

Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 

53.53%

#18

Exeter-West Greenwich

Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 

53.85%

#17

Scituate

Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 

54.43%

#16

Portsmouth

Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 

55.82%

#15

Achievement First Rhode Island

Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 

57.07%

#14

Smithfield

Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 

57.81%

#13

Chariho

Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 

58.14%

#12

South Kingstown

Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 

52.29%

#11

North Kingstown

Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 

59.73%

#10

Cumberland

Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 

61.25%

#9

North Smithfield

Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 

61.67%

#8

The Compass School

Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 

63.56%

#7

Jamestown

Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 

58.97%

#6

Glocester

Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 

64.06%

#5

East Greenwich

Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 

64.22%

#4

New Shoreham

Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 

70.83%

#3

Kingston Hill Academy

Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 

71.30%

#2

Barrington

Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 

72.94%

#1

RISE Prep Mayoral Academy 

Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 

76%