PROVIDENCE – A new report recently released by Brown University’s Annenberg Institute notes that schools in Rhode Island still face numerous challenges after the COVID-19 pandemic, and the last five years have brought “tremendous upheaval” within those schools.
The 22-page, data-driven report, titled “The State of Recovery: Rhode Island’s Post-Pandemic Public School Landscape,” found multiple key findings regarding local schools. Among those findings are declining enrollment in traditional public schools over the last decade, chronic absenteeism has risen to “all-time highs” and Rhode Island schools “substantially trail” their peers in nearby Massachusetts academically.
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“Rhode Island students have tremendous and untapped potential to succeed and flourish, but institutions across the state have not yet risen to this challenge,” the report said.
According to the report, which did not offer recommendations as to how to address the trending data, student enrollment across the state declined from 136,401 students in 2012-13 to 124,233 last academic year. Only nine of the 34 school districts have seen enrollment increases in that time, the report notes. Five of those districts – Little Compton, South Kingstown, Westerly, Narragansett and Scituate – saw their enrollment drop by at least 21% over the last decade.
Chronic absenteeism has reached new highs across the state. The report says about 1 in 3 elementary and middle school students are chronically absent. Close to 40% of high school students are chronically absent. By comparison, chronic absenteeism rates during the 2017-18 academic year were 13% for elementary and middle school students and 29% for high school students.
“These challenges reflect the substantial and long-lasting impact of the pandemic on students’ well-being and their relationship to schooling,” the report states.
Academically, Rhode Island still trails Massachusetts, a state that local officials are looking to model its student performance after. Rhode Island’s statewide math (485) and English language arts (488) scores in 2021-22 are behind the Bay State’s math (493) and ELA (494) metrics.
Gov. Daniel J. McKee told Providence Business News that state and education officials will review the report but plan to “stay the course” on improving the state’s education, including meeting or exceeding Massachusetts’ academic standards by 2030.
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.
