PORTSMOUTH — Portsmouth students continued to outperform their peers statewide on standardized tests this spring, although proficiency rates slipped slightly in both English language arts and mathematics after improving the previous year.

According to results released Friday, Oct. 9, by the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE), 56.5 percent of Portsmouth students in grades 3-8 met or exceeded expectations in English language arts (ELA), down from 57.9 percent in 2025.

In mathematics, 53.1 percent met or exceeded expectations, compared with 55.6 percent last year.

Despite those declines, Portsmouth remained substantially ahead of statewide averages of 33.1 percent in ELA and approximately 31.8 percent in math.

RELATED: Hathaway earns first five-star school rating

RIDE classified neither of Portsmouth’s districtwide declines as statistically significant, meaning the changes were not large enough to establish a clear deterioration in academic performance.

For Portsmouth parents, the results suggest that students generally continue to perform well compared with their counterparts elsewhere in Rhode Island, although more than four in 10 local students still fell short of grade-level expectations in reading and nearly half did so in mathematics.

The annual Rhode Island Comprehensive Assessment System (RICAS) measures student proficiency in English language arts and mathematics in grades 3-8.

Elementary schools: mixed results

Among Portsmouth’s three schools administering RICAS tests, Melville Elementary was the only one to improve its mathematics proficiency rate.

At Melville, 66.7 percent of students met or exceeded expectations in math, up from 65.5 percent in 2025. The school also posted Portsmouth’s highest ELA proficiency rate, at 68.6 percent, although that represented a decline from 71.6 percent the previous year.

Howard Hathaway School recorded declines in both subjects. ELA proficiency fell from 58 percent to 55.7 percent, while mathematics proficiency dropped from 67.1 percent to 60.8 percent.

At Portsmouth Middle School, ELA proficiency declined from 55.5 percent to 54.6 percent, while math proficiency slipped from 51 percent to 48.6 percent.

None of those school-level changes was statistically significant, according to RIDE’s data.

The latest results followed a particularly strong year in 2025, when all three schools improved their ELA proficiency rates. Portsmouth Middle School recorded the largest increase that year, gaining 9.6 percentage points.

Student growth: encouraging signs

While proficiency rates indicate how many students meet grade-level standards, another measure — student growth — provides a different perspective on academic performance.

Student growth percentiles compare students’ academic progress with that of other Rhode Island students who had similar prior test scores. A percentile of 50 represents typical growth, while higher figures indicate stronger progress relative to academic peers.

By that measure, Portsmouth’s elementary schools showed encouraging results.

Howard Hathaway recorded an average student growth percentile of 69 in both ELA and mathematics, suggesting its students made considerably more academic progress than comparable students statewide.

Melville also performed well, posting a growth percentile of 69 in mathematics and 64 in ELA.

Those figures are particularly noteworthy because they demonstrate that students can make substantial academic progress even when a school’s overall proficiency rate declines.

For example, Hathaway’s math proficiency rate fell by more than six percentage points, yet its student growth measure remained strong.

The distinction matters because proficiency rates reflect whether students have reached a particular academic benchmark, while growth measures how much progress they have made toward that goal.

Longer-term picture

Looking back over three years, Portsmouth’s districtwide results remain stronger than they were in 2024.

That year, 49.2 percent of students met or exceeded ELA expectations, compared with 56.5 percent in 2026 — an increase of 7.3 percentage points.

Mathematics proficiency also improved over the two-year period, rising from 52.1 percent in 2024 to 53.1 percent this year.

The longer-term comparison suggests that the district has retained much of its earlier progress despite this year’s modest declines.

Statewide math improves

Portsmouth’s results contrasted with a slight statewide improvement in mathematics.

Across Rhode Island, RICAS math proficiency increased for the fifth consecutive year, reaching approximately 31.8 percent. ELA proficiency declined slightly to 33.1 percent.

State Education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green said the results demonstrate both progress and continuing challenges.

“Rhode Island’s 2026 assessment results reflect both the progress our students are making and the continued challenges they are experiencing,” she said.

State officials also reported improvements in student attendance, with chronic absenteeism declining by 2.4 percentage points during the 2025-26 school year.

RIDE’s analysis found that students who were not chronically absent consistently outperformed those who missed significant amounts of school.