Portsmouth's first RICAS results: ‘Always room for improvement’

District exceeds statewide averages in debut of new performance assessment

By Jim McGaw
Posted 11/29/18

PORTSMOUTH — Results from the first round of the new academic assessment for students in grades 3 to 8 show that Portsmouth is well above the statewide average, but lagging behind a few …

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Portsmouth's first RICAS results: ‘Always room for improvement’

District exceeds statewide averages in debut of new performance assessment

Posted

PORTSMOUTH — Results from the first round of the new academic assessment for students in grades 3 to 8 show that Portsmouth is well above the statewide average, but lagging behind a few comparable districts that the local school system often measures itself against.

The R.I. Department of Education (RIDE) today released performance results from the 2017-2018 academic year for students in grades 3-8 on the new Rhode Island Comprehensive Assessment System, or RICAS. (High school students’ academic performance are assessed using the PSAT and SAT.)

The RICAS is the Rhode Island version of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS), the assessment tool for the nation’s highest-performing state for public education. The move to RICAS was met with significant support from educators for its high standards, sustainability, aligned instructional resources, and shorter testing time, according to RIDE.

This release, coupled with the PSAT and SAT, completes Rhode Island’s transition away from the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC).  

“Through RICAS, we now have a true apples-to-apples comparison of how we perform compared to Massachusetts, the gold standard for education in America and beyond,” said Ken Wagner, R.I. commissioner of elementary and secondary education. “This partnership provides meaningful information for families, educators, and the public, giving us a clear and common sense path forward to improve teaching and learning in Rhode Island schools.”

More than 1,000 local students in grades 3 to 8 — a participation rate of about 99 percent — took part in the assessment, which broke down their performances in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics.

In the ELA assessment, 50.3 percent of Portsmouth students either met or exceeded expectations, compared to the statewide average of 33.7 percent. In the math, 47.3 percent of students either met or exceeded expectations, compared to 27.5 percent statewide. (You can view interactive reports here.)

However, the district’s RICAS performance trailed some comparable districts such as Barrington, East Greenwich and North Kingstown.

Barrington’s scores were most impressive; nearly 70 percent of students in grades 3-8 met or exceeded expectations in ELA, and slightly over 60 percent in math. East Greenwich also posted higher scores (56.2 percent in ELA, 53.4 percent in math), while North Kingstown bested Portsmouth in the ELA assessment (54.3 percent) but performed at about the same level in math (47.5 percent).

Portsmouth’s numbers surpassed both Middletown’s and Tiverton’s. The district also outscored Bristol/Warren in math, but was slightly bettered in the ELA portion of the test.

‘Room for improvement’

On Friday, Assistant Superintendent Thomas Kenworthy said he could make only general remarks about the district’s RICAS performance. He plans on presenting a detailed report to the School Committee on Dec. 11.

“We’re well above the state average, which is a good place to start. But if you look at any particular grade level, there’s always room for improvement,” Mr. Kenworthy said.

Although it’s difficult to make too much out of the results from a new assessment, Mr. Kenworthy said administrators would like to see Portsmouth perform at a level closer to the very best schools.

“I think we’re definitely going to be in the Top 10, but we want to be closer to that top 5 percent,” he said.

On a brighter note, about 65 percent of the Melville School students who took the test are meeting or exceeding expectations in ELA. In math, about 56 percent of the school’s participants are meeting or exceeding expectations.

“Melville’s results definitely, when you break it down, look the best for us right now,” Mr. Kenworthy said.

The administration of the test went smoothly last year and was a bit more stress-free than the PARCC assessment, he said. 

“The testing format is very similar, but overall there’s a little bit (fewer) minutes and sessions of testing,” Mr. Kenworthy said. “We had almost 100 percent participation across the board. Overall, as far as the administering of the test, everything went very well.”

The RICAS is essentially the same test administered in Massachusetts, he said. 

“Massachusetts’ framework goes a little deeper than the Common Core standards,” he said. “The key difference is, now we’re able to make direct comparisons to schools in Massachusetts.”

Crunching the numbers

Here are more detailed results from the RICAS assessment, starting with Portsmouth’s performance. Statewide results are at the bottom.

Portsmouth — Mathematics

All grades

1,031 students tested (99.52 percent)

Not meeting expectations:   8.9 percent

Partially meeting expectations:  43.7 percent

Meeting expectations: 42.3 percent

Exceeding expectations:   5  percent

Hathaway

185 students tested (98.93 percent)

Not meeting expectations:   9.2 percent

Partially meeting expectations: 43.2 percent

Meeting expectations: 43.2 percent

Exceeding expectations:   4.3 percent

Melville

125 students tested (100 percent)

Not meeting expectations:   8    percent

Partially meeting expectations: 36  percent

Meeting expectations: 46.4 percent

Exceeding expectations:   9.6 percent

Middle School

714 students tested (99.58 percent)

Not meeting expectations:   8.1 percent

Partially meeting expectations:  45.7 percent

Meeting expectations: 41.7 percent

Exceeding expectations:   4.5 percent

Portsmouth — English Language Arts (ELA)/Literacy

All grades

1,029 students tested (99.42 percent)

Not meeting expectations:   7.7 percent

Partially meeting expectations: 42.1 percent

Meeting expectations: 45.1 percent

Exceeding expectations:   5.2 percent

Hathaway

185 students tested (98.93 percent)

Not meeting expectations:   3.2 percent

Partially meeting expectations: 36.2 percent

Meeting expectations: 56.2 percent

Exceeding expectations:   4.3 percent

Melville

123 students tested (99.19 percent)

Not meeting expectations:   5.7 percent

Partially meeting expectations: 29.3 percent

Meeting expectations: 52.8 percent

Exceeding expectations: 12.2 percent

Middle School

714 students tested (99.58 percent)

Not meeting expectations:   8.5 percent

Partially meeting expectations:  45.9 percent

Meeting expectations: 41.3 percent

Exceeding expectations:   4.2 percent

Statewide — Mathematics 

All Grades

64,468 students tested (98.75 percent)

Not meeting expectations: 22.4 percent

Partially meeting expectations:  50.3 percent

Meeting expectations:  25.4 percent

Exceeding expectations:     2  percent

Statewide — English Language Arts (ELA)/Literacy

All Grades

63,663 students tested (98.5 percent)

Not meeting expectations: 19.8 percent

Partially meeting expectations:  46.5 percent

Meeting expectations:  30.2 percent

Exceeding expectations:    3.5 percent

Portsmouth School Department, RIDE, RICAS

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Jim McGaw

A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.