Race to the Top. Rhode Island Report. Year 1: School Year 2010-2011. [State-Specific Summary Report]
Author: Department of Education (ED)
Date: 2012-01-10
Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Subjects: Academic Achievement,Academic Standards,Accountability,Achievement Gains,Administrator Effectiveness,Administrator Evaluation,Best Practices,Budgets,Charter Schools,Competition,Data,Data Collection,Disabilities,Educational Assessment,Educational Change,Educational Improvement,Elementary Secondary Education,English Curriculum,Enrollment,Federal Legislation,Federal State Relationship,Graduation Rate,Grants,Higher Education,Language Arts,Leadership Effectiveness,Mathematics,Measurement Objectives,Models,Outcomes of Education,Performance Based Assessment,Poverty,Principals,Professional Development,Program Evaluation,Program Implementation,Reliability,School Districts,School Effectiveness,School Turnaround,State Government,STEM Education,Systems Approach,Teacher Effectiveness

This State-specific summary report serves as an assessment of Rhode Island's Year 1 Race to the Top implementation, highlighting successes and accomplishments, identifying challenges, and providing lessons learned from implementation to date. According to the State, in Year 1, Rhode Island greatly increased statewide capacity to begin implementation of the State's Race to the Top plan and engaged in the foundational work necessary to bring each project to scale in the upcoming grant years. In addition, the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) approved three evaluation systems as meeting the State standards. The majority of LEAs will implement the Rhode Island Model Educator Evaluation System (Rhode Island model), six LEAs will implement the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals (RIFTHP) educator evaluation system, and one LEA will use a locally developed evaluation system. Rhode Island created a new induction and mentoring program for first- and second-year teachers that emphasizes instructionally focused, data-driven coaching. In Year 1, the State engaged in a rigorous interview process to identify and hire induction coaches. Every new teacher has been matched with a coach to provide one-on-one job-embedded support for SY 2011-2012. Rhode Island faced challenges in its effort to implement projects to support its persistently lowest-achieving (PLA) schools. In particular, leadership changes at the LEA level, labor-management issues, and efforts to refine the approach to supporting PLA schools led to delays in implementing the State's School Improvement Grant (SIG) program and providing additional support to these schools. In addition, the State's High-Performing Charter Schools project faced delays due to a need to provide additional time for Charter Management Organizations (CMOs) to formulate plans. In Year 1, RIDE recognized that successful implementation of the Race to the Top plan would require a high level of progress monitoring, communication, and collaboration between RIDE and LEAs. To achieve this, the State has engaged LEAs in the design of the LEA performance management process and created opportunities for feedback on challenges and implementation concerns. Having reflected on the effectiveness of communication strategies in Year 1, the State is moving toward more coordinated communications around Race to the Top projects in Year 2. RIDE discussed a communications coordination framework/plan with its project teams at its Race to the Top Year 2 planning meeting. A glossary is included. (Contains 3 footnotes.) [For the parent document, &quot;Race to the Top Annual Performance Report,&quot; see ED529267. For the full report, &quot;Race to the Top. Rhode Island. State-Reported APR: Year One&quot;, see ED529327.]