The Rhode Island Department of Education recently released “report cards” for every school in the state. For the second year in a row, the education department used what it calls a “Star Rating” system to measure every school on a wide range of factors — from test scores to graduation rates, from teacher absenteeism to out-of-school suspensions.

All schools are measured and scored on the same criteria, with a complex points system determined by the variety of data points.

The result is a rating from 1 (low) to 5 (high) for every school in Rhode Island, backed by an online platform with rich data that is available to the public for review or download.

In the Bristol Warren Regional School District, ratings range from a low of 3 — Hugh Cole Elementary, Kickemuit Middle School and Mt. Hope High School — to a high of 5 — Rockwell Elementary. The Bristol Phoenix is taking a closer look at each school in the district and sharing some of the data that was released last week.

The focus this week is on the Bristol elementary schools, Rockwell, Guiteras and Colt Andrews, where academics are a strength, but what the state considers “chronic absenteeism” — missing 10 percent or more of the school year — brought down the ratings for two schools.

Rockwell Elementary School — High marks across the board

Rockwell earned a 5-Star rating, on the strength of its student performance and growth on state assessments, as well as its high marks in all categories.

• ELA: Rockwell earned the highest rating possible in English Language Arts (ELA) Achievement, with 75 percent of students “proficient.” Its score was bolstered by 54 percent of students showing “High Growth” in ELA, combined with another 30 percent showing “Typical Growth.”

• Math: It earned the second-highest rating possible in Mathematics, with 68 percent of students proficient. And it received a boost in the “growth” metric, with 35 percent of students showing High Growth and another 41 percent showing Typical Growth.

• High performers: Rockwell also got the highest scores possible for students exceeding expectations in both ELA (26%) and Math (16%).

• Discipline: Rockwell got the highest score possible in the category of out-of-school suspensions — it had 0.

• Student attendance: The school had the highest possible score in Student Absenteeism, with only 4 percent of students (12 total students) “chronically absent” — defined as 18 days or more in one school year.

• Teacher attendance: Rockwell had a slightly lower score in Teacher Absenteeism, with 5.1 percent of students taught by teachers who were “chronically absent” (18 days or more) in the 2018-19 school year.

Guiteras Elementary School – Chronic absenteeism offsets strong academics

Though Guiteras earned high marks in student achievement, it was knocked down by its ratings in student and teacher absenteeism.

• ELA: Guiteras earned 3 of a possible 4 points, with 63 percent of its students proficient in ELA. Its scored was bolstered by the highest rating possible in the “Growth” metric, with 38 percent of students showing typical growth, and 37 percent showing “high growth.”

• Math: Guiteras also earned 3 of a possible 4 points here, with 62 percent of its students proficient in Math. It also got a boost in the “Growth” metric, with 41 percent of students showing typical growth, and 38 percent showing a high rate of growth.

• High performers: To earn the highest score possible, a school must have more than 10 percent of its students exceeding expectations. Guiteras earned this high mark in Mathematics, with 10.3 percent of students performing above expectations. It slightly missed the mark in ELA, with 7.8 percent of students exceeding expectations.

• Discipline: Despite having some disciplinary issues, Guiteras earned the highest score possible, with fewer than 5 percent of students receiving out-of-school suspensions. The school had 12 out-of-school suspensions, with six students suspended more than once.

• Student attendance: Guiteras did not reach the highest score possible here, with 9.1 percent of its students (32 total students) considered “chronically absent” (18 days or more).

• Teacher attendance: This was the low mark for Guiteras; it received the lowest score possible, because 13.9 percent of students were taught by teachers who were “chronically absent” (18 days or more).

Colt Andrew Elementary School – Chronic absenteeism offsets good academics

Colt Andrews also earned a rating of 4 (out of 5), with mostly strong academic scores, mixed with lower scores for chronic student and teacher absenteeism.

• ELA: Colt Andrews earned 3 of a possible 4 points, with 60 percent of its students proficient in ELA. Its scored was bolstered by the highest rating possible in the “Growth” metric, with 36 percent of students showing typical growth, and 41 percent showing “high growth.”

• Math: Colt Andrews earned only 2 of a possible 4 points here, with 47 percent of its students proficient in Math. It was hurt by a lower score in the “Growth” metric, with 37 percent of students showing a low rate of growth, 30 percent of students showing typical growth, and 33 percent showing a high rate of growth.

• High performers: Colt Andrews nearly hit the top marks in this category, which requires 10 percent of students to exceed expectations. In ELA, 9.2 percent of students exceeded expectations. In Math, 8.7 percent exceeded expectations.

• Discipline: Colt Andrews had the highest score possible here, with fewer than 5 percent of students receiving out-of-school suspensions. It had four students suspended from school; two of them were suspended more than once.

• Student attendance: The school earned 2 of 3 possible points here, with 11.4 percent of its students — 41 total students— chronically absent (18 days or more).

• Teacher attendance: Similar to Guiteras, Colt Andrews earned the lowest score possible here, with 13 percent of students taught by teachers who were “chronically absent” (18 days or more).