PARCC levels rise in Rhode Island

OLDER STUDENTS in Rhode Island scored worse on the English Language Arts/Literacy portion of the 2016 PARCC tests than elementary students on average. Levels 4 and 5 represent meeting and exceeding expectations, respectively, while Levels 1, 2 and 3 represent not meeting expectations, partially meeting expectations and approaching expectations, respectively. / COURTESY R.I. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
OLDER STUDENTS in Rhode Island scored worse on the English Language Arts/Literacy portion of the 2016 PARCC tests than elementary students on average. Levels 4 and 5 represent meeting and exceeding expectations, respectively, while Levels 1, 2 and 3 represent not meeting expectations, partially meeting expectations and approaching expectations, respectively. / COURTESY R.I. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island students in multiple grades increased their participation in the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers tests and raised their scores in English language arts/literacy and mathematics according to the 2016 PARCC report released Thursday.

The school districts that saw the most improvement, both in participation rates and scores, included Bristol Warren, Chariho, North Providence, North Smithfield, Pawtucket, Providence and Warwick.

Participation in both English language arts/literacy and mathematics rose to 96 percent from 88 and 90 percent respectively. The participation target rate set by the U.S. Department of Education is 95 percent.

There was a 2 percentage point increase seen statewide in English language arts/literacy results, with 37.9 percent of students meeting or exceeding learning expectations for their grade level (grades three through 10).

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The school with the most improvement in English was Mount Hope High School (in the Bristol Warren district), which saw a 37 percentage point jump in the percent of students meeting or exceeding expectations year-over-year, to 65 percent, and a 25 percentage point increase in participation, to 97 percent.

Statewide achievement in mathematics rose by 5 percentage points year-over-year, with 29.9 percent of students meeting or exceeding expectations for their grade level. Grades three through eight each saw improvement in the subject’s assessment as well as students enrolled in algebra I and geometry courses.

The school that saw the highest percentage point increase in mathematics was Chariho High School with a 31 percentage point increase in achievement to 46 percent meeting or exceeding expectations, and 8 percentage point increase in participation to 100 percent.

Barbara S. Cottam, chair of the board of education, commended Rhode Island for the dual-category improvements, but stressed the need to maintain such high achievements.

“We need to continue providing students with access to great instruction and challenging courses to ensure that all of our graduates are ready for success, and we need to continue investing in early learning so that students are reading at grade level at least by grade 3. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but today’s results are a positive sign,” she said.

Eighty one percent of Rhode Island students took the first PARCC achievement test in 2015. This year 85,000 Rhode Island students took the test, which measures whether students meet the Common Core State Standards. The 2016 results will play a role in determining which schools will be commended and which will be found in need of improvement in the state’s accountability system, which is being redesigned by the R.I. Department of Education for 2017.

The complete RIDE report on 2016 PARCC results is posted HERE.

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