South County High Schools Among the Best in the State

By ARTHUR GREGG SULZBERGER Journal Staff Writer

Two years ago state education officials stamped North Kingstown High School with the unwanted label “in need of improvement.”

Though most of the school had done well on the new standardized tests used to rate schools under new national education standards, the school’s small population of special-education students had struggled with the math sections. Rather than dismiss the poor results of a fraction of the student population, the high school began rethinking its special-education program.

“We revamped our curriculum when we noticed that some kids weren’t getting everything they should be getting,” said Principal Gerald Foley, including offering a double dose of algebra in the form of a new math lab.

Last week, North Kingstown was named a Board of Regents’ Commended School, based on two straight years of significant progress in English language arts and mathematics testing, now among the highest in the state (first and fourth respectively).

The special-education population easily met state guidelines, and the school held a small party for the seniors who took last year’s test, distributing shirts that read “High Performing and Improving” to each student.

“We’re very pleased,” said Supt. James Halley. “The high school has worked very hard at ensuring that all the students meet the standards.”

The state’s annual standardized test results, released last week, showed South County high schools generally performing at a level well above the state average.

Every high school in the county was categorized as high performing (though in several cases the label came with a caveat) and two other local high schools, Narragansett and Exeter-West Greenwich, earned Regents’ Commendations, out of just 14 statewide.

Proficiency in English ranged from 62 percent at Chariho to almost 81 percent in North Kingstown; math proficiency ranged from 55.6 percent in Chariho to 70.6 percent in Exeter-West Greenwich.

Statewide, the English and math proficiency averages were 52 percent and 45 percent respectively. The targets, raised this year for the first time since the system was adopted, will remain the same for the next two years.

Despite Narragansett’s high test scores – it was the only school in the state to be Regents Commended for three straight years — Supt. Albert E. Honnen responded cautiously, unwilling to read too much into the town’s test results.

“I don’t worry about it the way kids worry about SAT scores, because it’s just one indication of how a school is doing,” said Honnen. “Right now, it happens to be good and I hope it stays that way. If it doesn’t, we’ll try to find out why and work that much harder for our kids.”

Chariho Regional High School, South Kingstown High School and Westerly High School all were labeled “high performing with caution,” meaning that though the overall scores were good, one of the student subgroups that are also tabulated did not receive a passing grade.

In South Kingstown, students receiving free or reduced lunch failed to meet state English targets; at Chariho, like a number of districts around the state, the group that lagged was special-needs students, falling short of state standards in math.

“I’m pleased that we continue to be high performing,” said Chariho Supt. Barry Ricci. “We will continue to persevere . . . until we get all of our kids where they need to be.”

Like North Kingstown several years ago, Chariho will make adjustments to its special-education and math programs, said Ricci.

“Sometimes adults have lower expectations for [special-needs students] because of their needs,” he said. “I don’t buy that. I think the approach needs to be different . . . the standards absolutely need to be the same.”

Staff Writer Arthur Gregg Sulzberger can be reached by e-mail at asulzber@projo.com.

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High School Results

How local schools fared on the state’s standardized tests used to rate schools under new national education standards:

Chariho Regional: High Performing with Caution

Exeter-West Greenwich: High Performing and Improving

Narragansett: High Performing and Improving

Block Island: High Performing and Sustaining

North Kingstown: High Performing and Improving

South Kingstown: High Performing with Caution

Westerly: High Performing with Caution