Warwick RICAS Scores Dip Attributed to Pandemic, New Curriculum

WARWICK, RI — While the School Committee has praised progress among certain schools in English and Math on Warwick RICAS scores, the district has plans to address  four schools that lost ground on English and three that lost ground on math.

The district’s ELA scores were up an average of 2 percent from the previous school year, in keeping with  statewide performance, reported Lisa Schultz, the district’s Director of Curriculum, during  the Nov. 14 School Committee meeting. Math scores were up an average of five percent from the previous school year for K – 8. 

For English language, an average of 33.1 percent of students met or exceeded expectations statewide. In Warwick that number is 31 percent. In neighboring Cranston and East Greenwich, the average numbers are 32.5 percent and 64.7 percent, respectively.

Warwick RICAS ELA Score Results, Improvement Plans

In Warwick, ELA scores dipped 12.50 percent to 44.8 percent at Harold F. Scott School; 6.80 percent to 36.50 percent at Warwick Neck School; 3.50 percent to 34.70 percent at Sherman School and 1.40 percent to 44.50 percent at Cedar Hill School.

School Harold F. Scott School	Percent meeting ELA Goal 44.80%	Percent change -12.50%
Warwick Neck School	36.50%	-6.80%
Sherman School	34.70%	-3.50%
Cedar Hill School	44.50%	-1.40%

Warwick Math RICAS: Grade 3 Challenges Attributed to Pandemic Kindergarten Year

Statewide, an average of 29.6 percent of students met or exceeded expectations in mathematics. In Warwick that number was 27 percent. In neighboring Cranston and East Greenwich, the average numbers are 25.8 percent and 62.1 percent, respectively.

In her statement about  the math scores, Schultz noted long standing and recent advantages contributing to the overall positive numbers.

“We have been using the same mathematics program for the last several years, and have implemented full-time math interventionists in the buildings, as well.  Overall, we did well in mathematics across the district with a 4.5 percent increase in scores in grades 3-8,” Shultz wrote about the district’s math RICAS scores,” Shultz wrote.

In Warwick, Math scores dipped at three schools, dropping 2.90 percent to 40.40 percent meeting expectations at Cedar Hill; 1.50 percent to 27.70 percent meeting expectations at Sherman and  1.10 percent to 12.60 percent meeting expectations at Lippitt.

School Cedar Hill School	Percent meeting Math goal 40.40%	Percent change -2.90%
Sherman School	27.70%	-1.50%
Lippitt School	12.60%	-1.10%

When asked about the drops in math scores, Schultz wrote, “When drilling down into the scores, we found that students in grade three last year (these were students deeply impacted by COVID in Kindergarten) had the most difficulty on RICAS.  This is a common theme across the nation, and we are targeting the students in grade bands who struggled the most on the test. We are practicing released items from RICAS at all schools, for example,  so that students understand what is being asked of them during the test. We have moved our instruction of different units so that students are exposed to all of the test material before RICAS and have a good handle on the grade-level concepts.  Again, any school that saw a dip in scores has had a 1:1 planning meeting with central office administrators in order to develop a plan of action that fits with the climate and culture of each school.”

Charts showing the complete RICAS results for the district are embedded below. The RICAS results can be accessed at the Assessment Data Portal on the Rhode Island Department of Education website: https://www3.ride.ri.gov/ADP.