Articles from Rhode Island Education News

Months After Deep Cuts, Education Researchers See Reason for Cautious Optimism

Seven months after the Trump administration eliminated hundreds of jobs at the U.S. Department of Education and gutted research contracts, several developments offer researchers cautious optimism. The department plans to reinstate 20 of the 100+ canceled research contracts and is seeking public guidance on modernizing the Institute of Education Sciences. Researchers note recent poor NAEP results have catalyzed support for IES, though severe staff shortages continue threatening data quality and research progress. The American Educational Research Association rates the current situation at 3 or 4 on a scale of 10, compared to 1 a month ago. Source: the74million.org

Steffan: How We Outperformed National Reading Scores And Kept Students at Grade Level

Stefanie Steffan, coordinator of elementary literacy for Missouri's Rockwood School District, shares how their approach of keeping students together in grade-level cohorts with flexible, needs-based small groups has produced impressive results. The district's kindergarteners outperformed national proficiency averages in every skill group by more than 17 percentage points in some areas, while first and second graders outpaced national averages across nearly every domain. Rather than grouping readers by ability across grade levels, Rockwood provides whole-class instruction with evidence-based curricula followed by targeted intervention or enrichment based on real-time data. Source: the74million.org

Commissioner Infante-Green: Rhode Island's Roadmap to Improve US Science Scores

Rhode Island Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Angelica Infante-Green outlines the state's strategy to address science achievement, where about two-thirds of students miss proficiency benchmarks. Rhode Island includes science assessment results in school accountability ratings and has strengthened graduation requirements to specify multiple required lab classes. The state has expanded career and technical education programs by 60 percent since 2019, now offering over 318 programs connecting to high-demand STEM fields. Infante-Green, who serves on the National Assessment Governing Board, emphasizes integrating more hands-on scientific inquiry experiences and high-quality instructional resources. Source: thehill.com

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