[CREDIT: RIDE] Warwick Schools math program test results on the RICAS show a steady improvement in math proficiency.

PROVIDENCE, RI — Gov. Dan McKee and RIDE Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green met school and community leaders at Providence’s Asa Messer Elementary School Thursday, announcing $2.8 million in Learn365RI grants, with $80,000 for Warwick Schools math programs.

Officials took the opportunity to also launch the launch the statewide Math Matters RI campaign, which aims to promote the importance of mathematics.

As part of the launch, Governor McKee and Commissioner Infante-Green awarded the latest round of Learn365RI grants, which will provide 38 communities with $2,125,000 in grant funding aimed at improving math skills. Additionally, $725,000 has been allocated as a State set-aside for statewide intervention and support. Asa Messer Elementary was chosen to host the event because the school saw one of the highest increases in math proficiency, with a more than 12 percentage point improvement in students meeting or exceeding expectations in the 2024 Rhode Island Comprehensive Assessment System (RICAS) results.

‘We look forward to leveraging these resources to strengthen our math curriculum and provide additional support for our students,” — WSC Chair Shaun Galligan

In Warwick, the grant funding will aid the district in maintaining the steady progress Warwick Schools have shown in math proficiency in RICAS results during the 2019, 2023 and 2024 years, with a 2.1 percent improvement to 29.1 in 2024. Conversely, there was a reverse trend in SAT math scores, partly attributed to changes in the design of the SAT test.

“While some of our students are seeing positive momentum in math and have rebounded past pre-pandemic levels of achievement, we have to double down on our efforts to promote math to help all students get back on track,” said Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green. “RIDE is working diligently to expand access to high-quality math instruction for students and math-focused professional learning for teachers, and we know that the funds made available to communities through the Governor’s Learn365RI initiative will complement and strengthen our efforts to improve math understanding and skills. RIDE is excited to kick off the Math Matters RI campaign alongside math teachers, coaches, champions, and representatives from cities and towns throughout Rhode Island.”

“I appreciate the focus that Governor McKee and Commissioner Infante-Green are placing on improving math education across Rhode Island. Math proficiency is a critical area of growth for students statewide, including here in Warwick,” said Shaun Galligan, Warwick School Committee Chairman.

“We are grateful that Warwick has received $80,000 as part of the $2.85 million in funding associated with the Math Matters RI campaign, and we look forward to leveraging these resources to strengthen our math curriculum and provide additional support for our students. Investing in math education is essential to ensuring our students build the foundational skills needed for future academic and career success,” he said.

Funding for the third round of Learn365RI Municipal Learning Project grants has been aligned to the Math Matters RI campaign and will support out-of-school time learning programs with an explicit focus on math programs for students currently enrolled in kindergarten through grade 8. The program’s grant recipients may offer April break math camps, intensive afterschool and/or weekend math programming, and/or a four (or more)-week summer program.

State leaders emphasized the need to focus on improving math instruction and learning, citing positive trends in math RICAS results that have rebounded past pre-pandemic levels of achievement with 30.1% of students meeting or exceeding expectations in 2023-2024 results compared to 29.8 percent in 2018-2019. However, math SAT results remain below pre-pandemic levels, with 21.7% of secondary students meeting and exceeding expectations compared to 31.2 percent in 2018-2019. At the national level, NAEP, known as the “Nation’s Report Card,” underscored a need to focus on math with 2024 national math scores declining by 5 percentage points in grade 4 and 8 percentage points in grade 8 compared to 2019.

“In every home, every day, learning matters and we are launching our statewide Math Matters RI campaign to place an extra emphasis on math instruction and learning,” said McKee.

A table showing the Learn365RI grants for each city and town is embedded below: Learn365RI-Grants

Author: Rob Borkowski

Rob has worked as reporter and editor for several publications, including The Kent County Daily Times and Coventry Courier, before working for Gatehouse in MA then moving home with Patch Media. Now he's publisher and editor of WarwickPost.com. Contact him at editor@warwickpost.com with tips, press releases, advertising inquiries, and concerns.

This is a test