The State of Education in Rhode Island, Part 2 Take 2
Oftentimes, information communicated in terms of underlying counts gives people a sense of what is reasonable and what is possible that can be lost when results are presented solely in terms of percentages. So before moving on to the part 3 post in the State of Education in RI series, I am going to post in a tabular form the numbers that the part 2 graphs were based on.
In the tables below, the second column shows the change (by district) in total number of students proficient or better, as measured by the 8th then 11th grades NECAPs. The absolute numbers of students used to calculate these differences were presented in Part 1. In all cases, this column provides the numerator of the percentage shown in column five.
The third column is the number of students who were proficient or better on the 8th-grade NECAPs. In cases where the total number of students who were proficient or better decreased between 8th and 11th grade results, column three is used as the denominator of the percentage in column five, defining column five as the change in the number of less than proficient students in a district, between grades 8 and 11, as a percentage of the number of students who were proficient or better in grade 8.
The fourth column is the number of students who were less than proficient, i.e. who scored “partially proficient” or “not proficient”, on the 8th-grade NECAPs. In cases where the total number of students who were proficient or better increased between 8th and 11th grade results, column four is used as the denominator of the percentage in column five, defining column five as the change between grades 8 and 11 in the number of proficient or better students in a district, as a percentage of the number of students who were less-than-proficient in grade 8.
In other words, if the number of students who were proficient in a district went up between 8th and 11th grades, column five is the percentage of less-than-proficient students as measured in the 8th grade who advanced. If the number of students who were at least proficient went down, column five is the percentage of proficient-or-better students as measured in the 8th grade who declined. As stated in Part 1 of Part 2, this split metric isn’t ideal. In the case of districts that experienced declines in number of students proficient, no distinction is made between those who advanced a large number (or large percentage) of already proficient students, versus those who advanced smaller totals. This is why it is useful to plot results described here in conjunction with the starting percentage of students proficient or better from each district, to provide a look at the changes over time than can occur in districts that start from similar levels (when you look at a horizontal slice of the 2D-plot) or from different levels (when you look at the entire plot) of academic achievement.
Results in this post are sorted from highest percentage to the lowest. Part 3 in the series to appear on Monday.
| Community | Change in # of Students PoB at Reading, between 8th and 11th Grades | # of 8th-Graders Proficient or Better at Reading, ’05 & ’06 NECAP | # of 8th-Graders Less-than-Proficient at Reading, ’05 & ’06 NECAP | Change in # PoB at Reading, between 8th and 11th Grades, as % of ’05/’06 8th-Graders LtP |
| Bristol-Warren | 71 | 344 | 191 | 37.2% |
| Foster-Glocester | 54 | 285 | 146 | 37.0% |
| Chariho | 82 | 379 | 233 | 35.2% |
| Providence | 634 | 1115 | 2704 | 23.4% |
| Westerly | 38 | 358 | 185 | 20.5% |
| Woonsocket | 112 | 293 | 697 | 16.1% |
| Tiverton | 19 | 228 | 130 | 14.6% |
| Smithfield | 13 | 332 | 93 | 14.0% |
| Burillville | 23 | 287 | 166 | 13.9% |
| Newport | 20 | 184 | 198 | 10.1% |
| Central Falls | 40 | 150 | 403 | 9.9% |
| Cranston | 42 | 1090 | 703 | 6.0% |
| North Providence | 11 | 390 | 194 | 5.7% |
| West Warwick | 11 | 339 | 255 | 4.3% |
| Cumberland | 11 | 568 | 264 | 4.2% |
| East Providence | 17 | 532 | 438 | 3.9% |
| Portsmouth-Little Compton | 3 | 412 | 98 | 3.1% |
| Community | Change in # of Students PoB at Reading, between 8th and 11th Grades | # of 8th-Graders Proficient or Better at Reading, ’05 & ’06 NECAP | # of 8th-Graders Less-than-Proficient at Reading, ’05 & ’06 NECAP | Change in # PoB at Reading, between 8th and 11th Grades, as % of ’05/’06 8th-Graders PoB |
| Barrington | -2 | 526 | 47 | -0.4% |
| North Smithfield | -9 | 224 | 89 | -4.0% |
| Warwick | -50 | 1119 | 711 | -4.5% |
| Lincoln | -25 | 400 | 138 | -6.3% |
| East Greenwich | -25 | 357 | 58 | -7.0% |
| Exeter-West Greenwich | -17 | 241 | 97 | -7.1% |
| Coventry | -55 | 641 | 258 | -8.6% |
| South Kingstown | -52 | 518 | 144 | -10.0% |
| Narragansett | -22 | 210 | 38 | -10.5% |
| North Kingstown-Jamestown | -82 | 697 | 190 | -11.8% |
| Scituate | -34 | 262 | 53 | -13.0% |
| Middletown | -34 | 242 | 142 | -14.0% |
| Pawtucket | -94 | 655 | 900 | -14.4% |
| Johnston | -121 | 341 | 228 | -35.5% |
| Community | Change in # PoB at Mathematics, between 8th and 11th Grades | # of 8th-Graders Proficient or Better at Math, ’05 & ’06 NECAP | # of 8th-Graders Less-than-Proficient at Math, ’05 & ’06 NECAP | Change in # PoB at Math, between 8th and 11th Grades, as % of ’05/’06 8th-Graders PoB |
| Barrington | -105 | 485 | 88 | -21.6% |
| East Greenwich | -95 | 341 | 74 | -27.9% |
| Lincoln | -129 | 344 | 192 | -37.5% |
| Narragansett | -67 | 176 | 70 | -38.1% |
| Portsmouth-Little Compton | -148 | 381 | 129 | -38.8% |
| Westerly | -121 | 296 | 247 | -40.9% |
| Bristol-Warren | -120 | 293 | 242 | -41.0% |
| Chariho | -145 | 347 | 268 | -41.8% |
| Cumberland | -186 | 433 | 401 | -43.0% |
| North Kingstown-Jamestown | -265 | 602 | 285 | -44.0% |
| South Kingstown | -211 | 476 | 188 | -44.3% |
| Burillville | -98 | 213 | 240 | -46.0% |
| North Smithfield | -96 | 198 | 115 | -48.5% |
| Foster-Glocester | -131 | 270 | 161 | -48.5% |
| Smithfield | -124 | 255 | 170 | -48.6% |
| Scituate | -121 | 240 | 74 | -50.4% |
| North Providence | -127 | 237 | 352 | -53.6% |
| Cranston | -418 | 779 | 1019 | -53.7% |
| Middletown | -142 | 264 | 121 | -53.8% |
| Exeter-West Greenwich | -120 | 219 | 118 | -54.8% |
| Providence | -488 | 873 | 3008 | -55.9% |
| Newport | -98 | 174 | 209 | -56.3% |
| Coventry | -326 | 569 | 329 | -57.3% |
| Woonsocket | -139 | 241 | 761 | -57.7% |
| West Warwick | -178 | 300 | 291 | -59.3% |
| Tiverton | -134 | 215 | 143 | -62.3% |
| Warwick | -593 | 923 | 901 | -64.2% |
| East Providence | -297 | 437 | 533 | -68.0% |
| Johnston | -157 | 226 | 346 | -69.5% |
| Central Falls | -64 | 85 | 492 | -75.3% |
| Pawtucket | -429 | 552 | 1025 | -77.7% |
Question that needs to be asked: How valid is the data?
Do any of you realize that students have absolutely ZERO “ownership’ for NECAP testing!
Most do not care one iota how they do or in their schools performance!
The SAME test is given to ALL students be they Special Ed or College Prep!
The schools are scored based upon the total school population, i.e. those3 who do not take the test are factored into the overall score.
The scores of those who just “fill in the bubble” are counted as much as those who actually put in an effort.
I have observed first hand students come in to take a Math Exam without a calculator or pencil despite having been instructed to do so.
Imagine students who “complete” a two hour exam in 15 minutes? And you expect a passing score? Proficiency? Give me a break!
What score do you expect from a student who has been absent for 68 days for far this year? Better yet, they’ve missed most of the morning Math classes for an entire semester because they “can’t get up in the morning.”
They take the same NECAP test as the other students. Proficiency? Give me a break!
You can only do so much in this environment…..
Sorry for the typos….
Let’s try this again……
Question that needs to be asked: How valid is the data?
Do any of you realize that students have absolutely ZERO “ownership’ for NECAP testing! Since the test does not “count” for anything, for many the attitude is “why bother?”
Most do not care one iota how they do or in their school’s performance!
The SAME test is given to ALL students be they Special Ed or College Prep!
By the way, RIDE’s tests are at least the “college prep” level…. Prefect way to test the “average” student…..
The schools are scored based upon the total school population, i.e. those who do not take the test are factored into the overall score.
The scores of those who just “fill in the bubble” are counted as much as those who actually put in an effort.
I have observed first hand students come in to take a Math Exam without a calculator or pencil despite having been instructed to do so.
Imagine students who “complete” a two hour exam in 15 minutes? And you expect a passing score? Proficiency? Give me a break!
What score do you expect from a student who has been absent for 68 days so far this year? Better yet, they’ve missed most of the morning Math classes for an entire semester because they “can’t get up in the morning.”
They take the same NECAP test as the other students. Proficiency? Give me a break!
You can only do so much in this environment…..
You are most welcome to visit my classroom any time….
How many of the students that scored less-than-proficient on their 11th grade NECAPs for reasons of not trying — that you seem to be saying that the school systems are too good for — performed proficiently-or-better on their 8th grade NECAPs? That’s the answer to your general question.
Or, to approach the question from the direction of the specific to the general, what is it that would make students in Johnston care much less about their NECAP tests than students in communities with a similar level of academic achievement? Are you willing to claim that school district effects, and that teaching in particular, obviously played no role in the increase between the 8th and 11th grades of 634 students who scored proficient-or-better in Providence, or in the increase of 112 students scoring proficient-or-better in Woonsocket?
Try demographics…. I had one student several years ago that I believed was a “self transfer” from Providence. She would do A quality work when in class. Unfortunately, she was missing for more than half the year. I assumed that she was from a family that was here in an “undocumented” capacity and left it at that… Despite the quality of her work, there was no way she could obtain a passing grade given the amount of work that she missed. I believe the same rang true for her other classes as well as NECAP…. Demographics and the Family play a key role it a student’s performance. Something that the NECAP does NOT take into consideration…. In the 8th grade students are still in a learning mode. By HS there are way too many distractions and for many students, learning often falls by the wayside. It is more important to have the latest fashions, iPod and a cell phone, even if the latter two are prohibited, than to achieve good grades. For many HS becomes more of a social experience more than an opportunity to advance. Don’t get me wrong, there are many who are excellent students but they are outnumbered by those who are there only because they have to be there. Many don’t eat breakfast even though it is free because they don’t get up in time!!! I know of one student that has an IEP requiring the school to call the home to ensure they are awake. You can only do so much in this environment….. Again, you are most welcome to visit my classroom any time…. Until you have been in the classroom for a sometime, do not assume all is well nor that teachers are not trying. Cell phone, Yes! Pens or pencils? What, are… Read more »
Aldo, question for you. Why does only RI have this problem? MA or CT or NY or even Oklahoma doesn’t have this problem?
Answer they do, everyone does. So that argument is all evened out.
And if there’s nothing the teachers can do for these kids, then why do we spend upwards of $75,000 a year, plus benefits for these teachers? Why not just hire babysitters at $20 an hour?
“Why not just hire babysitters at $20 an hour?”
That’s what Gist SHOULD do….
It’s a fifteen minute walk from CF High to Tollman in Pawtucket, a district that’s looking to close schools soon, a district that’s slightly-less of a failure.
I’m thinking that Pawtucket should absorb CFHS students at great savings to the state and great benefit to the students.
Hey Guys, I realize we are little out of the way, but what ever happened to us in all your figuring? I speak of Block Island. Probably not much better and maybe worse, but why were we left out?
Everett,
No sleight intended. However, the data source that I used doesn’t give the 11th-grade results for New Shoreham for NECAP years 2008 or 2009. I can see that 6 students took the test in 2008 and that 7 did in 2009, but that’s it!
Aldo,
I’m not assuming that everything is fine nor that people are not trying. I am trying to develop a sense of the gains and losses that are possible over a multi-year period of time. Over three years, would it be reasonable to expect a district to move 20% of non-proficient students to proficiency (as several districts appear to have done in this data)? Could Central Falls, on a regular basis, increase its number of proficient students more than the 10% of non-proficient students, like Woonsocket and Providence did? (And I think I’m being much more sensible than Federal policymakers, who I believe want 100% of students proficient by 2014, no matter what the starting point is).
You seem to be saying that assessing the problem in this way is not possible, but are relying heavily on arguments that while they may apply to single-point in time data, do not necessarily to comparisons of student populations across time.