Test Scores Improve Slightly, Run the Gamut
By Alisha A. Pina; Journal Staff Writer
Alice M. Waddington and James R. D. Oldham schools are the city’s only 2 schools out of the 10 tested in October to see improvements in all three subjects.
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EAST PROVIDENCE – Standardized test scores improved slightly in the city’s elementary and middle schools last year, with the elementary schools in the Riverside section moving ahead of statewide averages in reading, mathematics and writing.
Alice M. Waddington and James R. D. Oldham schools are the city’s only 2 schools out of the 10 tested in October to see improvements in all three subjects.
Waddington rose 7 percentage points in reading, from 63 percent “at or above proficiency” in 2005, to 70 percent last year. It also increased 5 points in math, to 69 percent, and 12 points in writing, to 64 percent. Besides being above the statewide averages, Waddington also exceeds the averages produced by the state’s seven “urban ring” districts – West Warwick, Newport, North Providence, East Providence, Cranston, Johnston and Warwick.
Oldham went up 12 percentage points in reading, from 52 percent “at or above proficiency” in 2005, to 64 percent last year. It also had double-digit increases in math and writing – 11 and 17 percent, respectively.
“Based on a brief analysis of the scores, I was pleased, but guarded,” said Oldham principal Nadine Lima, who said she has already begun brainstorming on how to help the students who were not proficient. She said the scores improved because of “sound instruction from competent, caring teachers with high academic standards.”
She continued, “My culture here is that of student focus, student- centered learning.”
The other schools in the district gained only in reading, math or both.
Myron J. Francis Elementary School, in the Rumford section of the city, lost ground in all three subjects. It dropped 7 percentage points in reading, from 78 to 71 percent proficient; two points in math, from 72 to 70 percent; and three points in writing, from 70 to 67 percent. Yet in comparison to the city’s other schools, it continues to have the highest percentage of students proficient.
Whiteknact Elementary School is at the other end of the district’s test score spectrum despite gaining 5 percentage points – from 38 to 43 percent – in reading. It is below the urban ring and statewide averages in all three subject areas.
And some schools – such as Martin Middle, Whiteknact and Orlo Avenue Elementary – dropped considerably in the percentage of students who are proficient in writing. The statewide average for those who took the October writing test and are proficient is 46 percent. Martin went from 45 to 29 percent proficient, Whiteknact went from 36 to 18 percent, and Orlo plummeted 50 percentage points, from 71 percent to 21 percent, which is the worst drop in any subject for any school statewide. The writing test was given to students in fifth and eighth grades. The scores dipped statewide by 5 percentage points from last year. However, officials at the Rhode Island Department of Education said writing scores will often be more volatile because test questions change from year to year. For example, students this year were asked to write a response to literary text, which many found more challenging than last year’s exercise in report writing, they said.
Assistant Schools Supt. Edward Daft spoke minimally about individual school results when he briefed the School Committee on the scores recently. He told the board that some principals were reporting discrepancies with the scores, but didn’t go into specifics. He also said he was encouraged that there were “increases across the board except for eighth grade writing.”
Daft and Schools Supt. Jacqueline Forbes especially praised the city’s two middle schools, Riverside and Martin, which have been designated by the state Department of Education as high performing schools because of improvements in recent years.
“It’s very rare to have high performing middle schools,” Forbes said happily before each principal listed the many extra learning opportunities available at their schools. The presentation went on for more than 15 minutes as Riverside principal Michael Almeida and Martin principal Frank Devall talked about using theater seminars to get students excited about writing and competitions to improve students’ enthusiasm in science.
Yet Martin’s test scores are below statewide and urban ring averages. Riverside’s reading scores are also below the statewide average. Its math and writing results are 3 and 6 points higher, respectively, than the statewide averages.
Both principals believe more improvements will come. Almeida said the school will continue to differentiate instruction “so everyone is challenged” and listed a host of other, already implemented programs – robotics and cultural learning activities, for example – that will also help.
Devall also said his staff is dedicated, among other things, to areas other schools may take for granted, such as the arts, home education courses and foreign languages. In addition, he talked about the school’s interactive book tour programs, the recent AIDS quilt project and the school’s many classroom visits, such as when a resident who lost a family during the Sept. 11 attacks came to speak.
Devall said the opportunities to learn and teach are everywhere, and his staff is taking as many as they can to do just that.
“And that’s just in the day,” he said before briefly going over after-school activities. “Sports are also enrichment. And our kids are doing their very best.”
apina@projo.com / (401) 277-7465
East Providence school district results
READING MATH WRITING
2005 2006 2005 2006 2005 2006
Alice M. Waddington School 63 70 64 69 52 64
Edward R. Martin Mid. School 53 60 47 51 45 29
Emma G. Whiteknact School 38 43 31 26 36 18
James R. D. Oldham School 52 64 56 67 31 48
Kent Heights School 64 65 57 49 61 52
Myron J. Francis Elem.School 78 71 72 70 70 67
Orlo Avenue School 46 49 47 43 71 21
Riverside Middle School 61 59 52 55 61 52
Silver Spring School 52 58 54 57 47 46
SOURCE: Rhode Island Department of Education $THE PROVIDENCE JOURNAL
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