RIPEC: R.I. public school education has room for improvement

THE RHODE ISLAND PUBLIC EXPENDITURE COUNCIL examined Rhode Island's education expenditures and student performance on tests in its latest report. / COURTESY RHODE ISLAND PUBLIC EXPENDITURE COUNCIL
THE RHODE ISLAND PUBLIC EXPENDITURE COUNCIL examined Rhode Island's education expenditures and student performance on tests in its latest report. / COURTESY RHODE ISLAND PUBLIC EXPENDITURE COUNCIL

PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island, despite having the ninth-highest per-pupil spending amount nationally, still has room for improvement in its educational outcomes, an analysis from the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council showed this week.
Rhode Island’s per pupil spending totals $14,889, fourth-highest among the New England states, and nearly 40 percent more than the national average of $10,763, RIPEC said in its report, “Results: Education in Rhode Island 2016.”
The report notes recent reform efforts intended to improve the state’s public school system, including a new accountability system, new state funding formula and adoption of Common Core Standards.
But it said Rhode Island performs near, or slightly below, the national average on standardized assessments of student performance, such as the SAT and National Assessment of Educational Progress exam.
It said that last year, the Ocean State, at 35 and 32 percent, had the lowest percentage of eighth-grade students score at or above proficient on the NAEP reading and mathematics examinations in the New England states. That was only slightly above the U.S. average of 33 in reading and matched the U.S. average of 32 percent in math, but below Massachusetts, where 46 percent of eighth-graders were at or above proficient in reading and 51 percent were at or above in math.
In fact, RIPEC took a closer look at education in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, as students in Massachusetts are outperforming Rhode Island’s students on standardized tests even though the two states spend a similar amount and are also alike demographically, with comparable percentages of English language learners and minority students.
In the results for fourth-grade reading and math on the NAEP tests, Rhode Island reported rates at or above proficient of 40 and 37 percent, respectively, which is above the national average of 35 percent in reading, but below the national average of 39 percent for math.
Fifty percent of fourth-graders in Massachusetts, in comparison, were at or above proficient in reading and 54 percent were at or above proficient in math.
As for the SAT, Rhode Island’s 2015 mean SAT score was 1429, compared with the national mean score of 1462 and Massachusetts’ mean score of 1525.

RIPEC said there is a “greater degree of state influence over the governance and provision of education” in Massachusetts. In Rhode Island, it said local communities have a greater role. Massachusetts also plays a greater emphasis on school committees, which hire superintendents.
RIPEC suggests Rhode Island move toward the Massachusetts model “by promoting systemwide alignment and increasing the degree of state-level influence” over certain key education functions, such as curriculum development, teacher evaluation and professional development.

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  1. Rhode Island’s public school teachers are well prepared. They just do not have the time to prepare and implement detailed well written daily lessons. To solve this problem, the daily lessons to be taught in each subject should be written or updated during the summer months and computerized. The print-outs of student text, supplementary, drill, quiz and test materials could be tailored to meet the individual reading needs of each student. Students having problems with the skills being taught would be quickly singled out and provided with remedial help at the end of the day or at home online. A blend of face to face and online instruction would be achieved. If a teacher is absent, a well written lesson would be available for the substitute teacher to implement. Students requiring home schooling would be taught the same lessons that are being taught in school and student text books, which are often old and out of date, would no longer be needed. The textbook money saved could be used to fund music, art and STEM activities. Once implemented, this plan would reduce the need for charter schools.