NS schools get a 4-star rating
NORTH SMITHFIELD — The North Smithfield school system is a rising star in state.
Four stars to be exact.
The new School Report Cards and Accountability Ratings for 2018-19 released last month by the
Rhode Island Department of Education shows North Smithfield well on the way to becoming a 5 star school district.
The Department of Education launched the new School Report Card platform in December and, with it, released 2018 results for school accountability. Both the online platform and the accountability data displayed within the platform were updated under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the federal education law. This is the first year under the new system.
According to School Supt. Michael St. Jean, the new platform evaluates a school’s performance, from traditional measures like test
scores and graduation rates, to broader measures like chronic absenteeism for students and teachers. This data then results in a star rating for every public school in the state.
“Not all star ratings are created equal,” St. Jean said. “While our schools rated 5 stars across multiple categories and measures, all of our schools receive a 4 star rating in English Language Arts and Mathematics Achievement and Growth, thus the overall rating for the entire school system was 4 stars.”
St. Jean says the high star rating shows that the district continues to make improvements through increased interventions, supports, and tar-
geted instruction.
“Our recent statewide number one ranking for the average student growth for both English language arts and mathematics on the last RICAS exam for Grades 3-8, shows we are on the right track to close achievement gaps,” he said. “English language arts scored higher overall towards a 5 star rating as we have had systems and structures for intervention in place for many years.”
According to the ratings, mathematics leaves the most room for improvement in North Smithfield.
“With the recent addition of math interventionists at the elementary and middle levels, we are moving in the right direction and have made significant progress, but our math supports do not equal our
ELA supports,” St. Jean said.
All North Smithfield schools lost points due to student absenteeism.
“We have reinforced with our students and families that attendance counts,’ St. Jean said. “Not only is good attendance a necessary component of academic achievement, but attendance counts towards the overall rating of an entire school. Pulling a student out of school for a family vacation, for example, negatively impacts the entire school.”
Unlike past accountability systems, which used an aggregated score, the Star Rating is determined using a broader range of performance measures. Schools must perform well across all measures to earn a high star rating. In other words, high performance in a single category cannot mask low performance in another.
The primary drivers of the accountability system, and of Star Ratings, are student achievement and student growth, measured through performance on state assessments. These measures are rounded out by a more expansive view of school climate, culture, and achievement, including such measures as student and teacher chronic
absence, suspension rates, and student pathways.
Student sub-group performance is also a central component of the system. In orb der to earn 5 stars, a school must have no low-performing sub-groups in achievement, p growth, or graduation rate. If a school has two or more subgroups classified as low performing, even if they perform very well in other measures, they cannot earn more than 3 stars.
Statewide, 21 schools are designated at 5 stars, 40 at 4 stars, 132 at 3 stars, 68 at 2 stars, and 36 at 1 star.
St. Jean says he is confident North Smithfield will soon join the ranks of 5 star performing schools.
“While admittedly it would have been nice to have scored a straight 5 star rating right out of the gate, we have to acknowledge the work we have ahead of us in closing achievement gaps in ELA and math and, with the help of our families, improve student attendance,” he said. “We are on the leading edge of being a 5 star district. I have full confidence that our staff, students, families, and community will get us there.”