RICAS 2024: English scores trend down, math scores remain unchanged

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — Rhode Island elementary and middle school students' standardized test scores decreased or remained unchanged this year, according to statewide testing data released on Friday.

The Rhode Island Comprehensive Assessment System test scores showed 30.8% of third through eighth grade public-school students met or exceeded expectations in the English language arts portion of the exam. That was down 2.3 percentage points compared to last year's results .

The results also showed 30% of students met or exceeded expectations in math, representing no change compared with last year.

R.I. Department of Education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green acknowledged the standardized test scores are still not where they should be, and said other states are in the same situation.

"We knew that it was going to be sort of an up and down," Infante-Green told reporters Thursday. "We actually saw less of a drop with some of our colleagues in our other states. But you know, it's disappointing."

Students in Providence, whose schools have been under state control since 2019, saw slight gains. ELA proficiency improved from 15.1% to 15.3%, while math proficiency improved from 13% to 14.7%.

"It's actually a good news story," Infante-Green said. "We're hopeful that some of the investments that they made are actually working."

Infante-Green emphasized that the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted learning, increased chronic absenteeism rates nationwide, and exacerbated a mental health crisis.

"We knew this was happening prior, but this really exacerbated it," Infante-Green said. "The assessment results you will see today reflect these challenges."

The education commissioner, whose contract was recently extended , told reporters it is a challenging time for educators, students and parents and that there is a "direct correlation" with student performance and absenteeism.

"We can't beat down the people that are trying to do the work, but we can encourage parents, families, business owners, to make sure that they're all on board and bringing their kids in," Infante-Green said. "Everybody's at the breaking point in schools. I need everybody to really understand, because it's a different time."

On average, chronically absent students performed lower than their peers who were not chronically absent, by 18 percentage points in ELA and 21.2 percentage points in math.

Last fall, Gov. Dan McKee and his administration announced new efforts and incentives to address chronic absenteeism in Rhode Island public schools . Students are characterized as chronically absent if they miss 18 or more days of school per year.

"But these kids are not just absent 18 days," Infante-Green added. "They are absent 20 or 30 days."

In Rhode Island, 24.7% of students — or about one in four — were chronically absent during the 2023-24 school year.

The education commissioner suggested there has been a cultural shift around the importance of being present in school, but also that it's not just a Rhode Island problem.

"There is a new feeling that they can take vacation during school time," she said.

Still, the absenteeism figure represented a drop of roughly four percentage points from the previous year (28.9%) and a nearly 10-percentage-point drop from the 2021-22 school year, when 34.1% of students were chronically absent statewide.

At the same time, RIDE reported participation in ELA and math RICAS exams for 2024 continued an upward trend, with rates greater than 98%.

RIDE said several schools "significantly improved" in reducing chronic absenteeism by at least 5 percentage points and increasing both ELA and math scores by at least 5 points:

How about multilingual learners and differently abled students?

Rhode Island has the fifth-highest overall enrollment percentage of multilingual learners (MLLs) in the nation and highest percentage in New England, according to RIDE.

Data showed MLL test results remained flat.

Comparatively, students who recently exited MLL status are now outperforming students who were never identified as MLLs on ELA and math assessments.

Infante-Green called it a "bright spot" in the statewide results.

"When they get the supports, I have to tell you, they hit the ground running, and they outpace everyone else," the education commissioner said.

Over the last five years, Rhode Island has also seen a nearly 2.5% increase in differently abled students, with nearly one in five students in the 2023-24 school year, compared to one in six in 2019-20.

RIDE said it is investing in Foundations of Math Training, and will launch what's called a DAS Blueprint this fall to "support strategic improvement."

How does RI compare to Massachusetts?

Data showed Rhode Island continues to shrink the performance gap with nearby Massachusetts, which administers a similar test known as the MCAS.

Compared to 2018, the ELA performance gap between Rhode Island and Massachusetts has closed from 17 percentage points to 8, while the math performance gap has closed from 20 points to 11.

SAT results also released

Students in 10th and 11th grade take the PSAT and SAT, respectively.

SAT scores in ELA and math dropped, although state officials said it was unclear how much the decrease was due to changes in test design and how much was based on skill.

"It is more precise of a test," Infante-Green said. "It's going to give us more accurate information."

Infante-Green noted that RIDE recently received a $40 million federal grant, the largest in the agency's history, that will be used to improve literacy outcomes.

Alexandra Leslie ( ) is a Target 12 investigative reporter covering Providence and more for 12 News. Connect with her on Twitter and on Facebook .