Home Editor's Choice ‘It’s a numbers game’: Teacher unions say R.I. star ratings paint incomplete...

‘It’s a numbers game’: Teacher unions say R.I. star ratings paint incomplete picture

By

James Bessette

-

01/12/2024

CLASSICAL HIGH SCHOOL in Providence had six of its seven performance metrics receive between four and five stars in 2023. But the lone low score for English language proficiency netted the school the overall 2-star rating. / COURTESY CLASSICAL HIGH SCHOOL — CLASSICAL HIGH SCHOOL in Providence had six of its seven performance metrics receive between four and five stars in 2023. But the lone low score for English language proficiency netted the school the overall two-star rating. / COURTESY CLASSICAL HIGH SCHOOL

PROVIDENCE – Purple Pride and commitment to students run deep at Classical High School, and the overall analysis by the R.I. Department of Education of the school on Westminster Street shows that. Classical in 2023 scored high in six of RIDE’s seven performance metrics. It garnered five stars in growth in math, science and English

Already a Subscriber? Log in

To Continue Reading This Article

Become a Providence Business News subscriber and get immediate access to all of our premier content and much more.

Learn More and Become a Subscriber

Critical RI business news and analysis updated daily.
1 year of print (26 issues).
Unlimited access to all subscriber only content on our website, on any device.
Free email alerts.
Annual Book of Lists Print Edition.
All special issues produced during subscription term.

Click Here to purchase a paywall bypass link for this article

PBN Branded Content

Investing Wisely: Enhancing Efficiency & Value Through Sustainable Operations

Amgen is using its innovative capabilities to combat climate change and preserve natural resources through…

Learn More

No posts to display

LEAVE A REPLY Cancel reply

PROVIDENCE – Purple Pride and commitment to students run deep at Classical High School, and the overall analysis by the R.I. Department of Education of the school on Westminster Street shows that. Classical in 2023 scored high in six of RIDE’s seven performance metrics. It garnered five stars in growth in math, science and English language arts; graduation rate; exceeding expectations in having low student absenteeism and suspensions from school; diploma plus; and having zero low-performing subgroups. So why did a school with such a strong performance and track record for excellence garner only a 2-star rating when RIDE’s latest star ratings were recently announced? It was English language proficiency, the weakest metric in its performance rating. Classical received only a single point out of a possible four – resulting in two stars. School officials who spoke with Providence Business News admit that is an area the school must address. But they also feel that the star system, which rates schools only as high as their lowest category rating, needs to be adjusted to provide an overall clearer picture of school performance and accountability. “Having the ratings based on the weakest indicator doesn’t make sense,” National Education Association Rhode Island Executive Director Mary K. Barden told Providence Business News. Maribeth Calabro, president of the Providence Teachers Union, agreed, saying if one puts finite measures on the lowest common denominator, “it doesn’t allow for growth or enrichment.” There is evidence of that where out of the 39 schools in the state-controlled Providence Public School District, only 11 saw their star ratings change in either direction in 2023 compared with 2022. Just five schools – Alfred Lima Sr. Elementary School, Nathanael Greene Middle School, Harry Kizirian Elementary School, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School and E-Cubed Academy – were the only city schools to see its star ratings improve, all by one star, from a year ago. “It tends to stay stagnant,” Calabro said. “It’s one of the criticisms in education that we’re always creating policies and procedures to the lowest common denominator as opposed to the highest common multiples. You kind of get dinged twice. We should get stars for our strengths instead of areas of weakness.”

Rhode Island's system is different from some other states who also use star ratings to determine overall school performances. Nevada, Maryland, Georgia and Washington, D.C., for example, use a combined overall total score earned from multiple metrics to determine a school’s star rating. The higher the overall score, the higher the rating. The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education uses an "accountability percentile," not a star rating, which measures the performance of all students in a school compared to other schools in the state. This measure, the department says, is reported as a percentile, from 1 to 99, which is calculated using all available accountability indicators for a school.

“[Giving the lowest indicator the star rating] can be demoralizing to our educators, students and support staff who are working hard and doing great things in a lot of areas … where we’re looking at accountability, but those things are not recognized,” Barden said. “If we look at the entire report card, that would make more sense.” [caption id="attachment_457064" align="alignright" width="386"]

MARY K. BARDEN, executive director of the National Education Association Rhode Island, says having the schools' star overall ratings based on their weakest indicators "doesn't make sense." / COURTESY NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION RHODE ISLAND[/caption] Also, there is an equity concern with the star ratings. With RIDE’s current star rating metrics, all but one have points systems that do not encompass all the individual star ratings. For example, in the “number of low-performing subgroups” metric, schools can earn as high as five stars but as low as three. In “English language proficiency,” schools can get five stars, four stars or two stars, and no one- or three-star rankings. Plus, not all schools will be judged on certain metrics if they don’t meet certain minimum requirements. Classical, with 27 multilingual students enrolled according to Calabro, finally met the required enrollment threshold to be scored in the English language proficiency in 2023 – which garnered the school that low 2-star rating. Meanwhile, Barrington High School – a 5-star school – had just 20 multilingual students enrolled last year, Calabro said, below the required ELP-judged enrollment threshold. In fact, just five schools out of the 50 across Rhode Island who had star ratings of 4 or 5 were judged in English language proficiency category by RIDE. “It’s literally a numbers game [with the star ratings],” Calabro said. “The lack of diversity across the state at the high school level is clearly rewarded because when we increase our multilingual learners and we don’t have the supports to assist them, then we lose stars.” Calabro also said school attendance should be reviewed on how officials are implementing programs aimed to boost attendance, beyond looking at the actual attendance number at a specific school.

“The campaigns that we have, the outreach that we do, the home visits, that should account for something, particularly in a post-COVID-19 world,” she said. RIDE did not respond to multiple requests by PBN for an interview with R.I. Education Commissioner Angelica Infante-Green to discuss the star ratings system. In a statement, Infante-Green said the system is “continuously being reviewed” as the department seeks to provide students, families and school officials “a clearer understanding of their schools’ performance and support strategic planning to improve outcomes statewide.” Scott Barr, Classical’s principal, also did not immediately respond to questions from PBN. Infante-Green in her statement to PBN added that Classical’s low ELP rating “underscores a need to better support” multilingual learners since that population is projected to reach 50% by 2030. She also said PPSD entered into a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice to better serve English learners “while under city control.” Infante-Green said PPSD has worked to help more than 500 teachers earn their English for Speakers of Other Languages certification and remains committed to helping more educators receive the training and support they need to serve the growing multilingual population. Calabro noted there needs to be fiscal support for PPSD as a district, including Classical, to better serve the needs of multilingual learners. Moving forward on the star ratings, Barden said all the school accountability metrics should be reviewed “in a holistic way” in lieu of a single star rating. Calabro said schools should receive a bonus “half a star” for unique positive outcomes, such as a high school’s high college acceptance rate. Calabro also said there should be grant money available for schools who receive high star ratings to improve or provide access to enrichment programs or academic advanced courses or college-readiness courses. “Beyond the five stars, there should be an award that allows you to maintain your status but also grow your materials and curriculum to improve the status of all students,” Calabro said. 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.