Rhode Island’s miserable performance on standardized tests ought to wake up even the state’s fat and moribund education establishment. Results from Rhode Island Comprehensive Assessment System tests, released last week, showed that if Rhode Island were a single school district in Massachusetts, it would fall among the bottom 10 percent of its districts.

Rich communities in Massachusetts far outperformed rich communities in Rhode Island. Poor communities in Massachusetts far outperformed poor communities in Rhode Island.

But there were some interesting anomalies. They showed that Rhode Island’s poor performance is not a matter of indomitable fate. It is a question of caring.

Blackstone Valley Prep Middle School, for example, which serves some of the poorest neighborhoods in the state along with suburban students, achieved the highest sixth-grade scores in math. The Learning Community in Central Falls also did well. Cumberland schools far outperformed Lincoln next door, while spending about $4,000 less per pupil.

But the gem of the state — the greatest outlier — was Achievement First in Providence, a public charter school that serves many poor, minority and immigrant children, a huge percentage of them eligible for free and reduced-price lunch, a measure of poverty.

Its Iluminar Mayoral Academy Elementary School, 70 percent of whose students are Hispanic, ranked as the top performer in the state — number one in English language arts (80 percent proficient) and number one in math (76 percent proficient). That’s right. It beat the suburban schools.

The fourth-graders at the Achievement First Providence Mayoral Academy Elementary School topped the state by 5 percentage points in English and an astounding 34 percentage points in math.

Rhode Island&rsquo;s miserable performance on standardized tests ought to wake up even the state&rsquo;s fat and moribund education establishment. Results from Rhode Island Comprehensive Assessment System tests, released last week, showed that if Rhode Island were a single school district in Massachusetts, it would fall among the bottom 10 percent of its districts.
Rich communities in Massachusetts far outperformed rich communities in Rhode Island. Poor communities in Massachusetts far outperformed poor communities in Rhode Island.
But there were some interesting anomalies. They showed that Rhode Island&rsquo;s poor performance is not a matter of indomitable fate. It is a question of caring.
Blackstone Valley Prep Middle School, for example, which serves some of the poorest neighborhoods in the state along with suburban students, achieved the highest sixth-grade scores in math. The Learning Community in Central Falls also did well. Cumberland schools far outperformed Lincoln next door, while spending about $4,000 less per pupil.
But the gem of the state &mdash; the greatest outlier &mdash; was Achievement First in Providence, a public charter school that serves many poor, minority and immigrant children, a huge percentage of them eligible for free and reduced-price lunch, a measure of poverty.
Its Iluminar Mayoral Academy Elementary School, 70 percent of whose students are Hispanic, ranked as the&nbsp;top&nbsp;performer in the state &mdash; number one in English language arts (80 percent proficient) and number one in math (76 percent proficient). That&rsquo;s right. It beat the suburban schools.
The fourth-graders at the Achievement First Providence Mayoral Academy Elementary School topped the state by 5 percentage points in English and an astounding 34 percentage points in math.

A collection of interviews,  press conferences and news actualities from the Newsroom of the Providence Journal, Providence, Rhode Island.

News interviews and actualities from  The Providence Journal

From the Newsroom: The Providence Journal

A collection of interviews,  press conferences and news actualities from the Newsroom of the Providence Journal.

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