COVENTRY -- While the town's schools scored higher than the state average on all but one of the latest statewide tests, last fall, Asst. Supt. Vincent "Vin" J. Hawkins said the tests also provided information on how the department can move forward.
"The district beat the state in 13 out of 14 of those tests and tied them in one," he said in a recent interview. He said the test, which was written by teachers from three states, was "a very good one," and added that it provides a way to "look at the instruction and make modifications."
On tests administered to grades 3 through 8 in October, 67 percent of the town's students met or exceeded the standard for reading and 61 percent did the same for math while 55 percent did so for writing.
The state developed the new tests, called the New England Common Assessment Program, in cooperation with New Hampshire and Vermont, partly to save money and partly to compare Rhode Island's schools with those in the two states that perform well in national tests.
"Really what is driving this is the [federal] No Child Left Behind law," Hawkins said, adding that he was looking at three major criteria: the teaching, the curriculum and what is assessed.
He said it was difficult to determine why certain schools did better than others. "Those schools that did well have a total culture of learning, a total school culture of improvement," he said. "They take the time to analyze each student's work and adapt the instruction accordingly.
"One of the things I have asked the principals to do is get a list of all kids' scores and look at what part of the math test, for example, did students do less well and what part did they do best on," he said.
Western Coventry Elementary School did particularly well, with 76 percent of the students meeting or exceeding state standards in reading, 78 percent in math and 75 percent in writing. Tiogue School also fared well, with 73 percent scoring well in reading, 69 percent in math and 62 percent in writing.
"The success of schools is directly related to leadership," Hawkins said. "A strong principal begets strong teachers."
He said the district had made a real attempt to integrate students who were "outside the margins" in terms of academic achievement rather than isolating them in special-education classes.
"We offer them the same curriculum, the same instruction, as everyone else," he said, adding, "We're trying to reverse the whole ideology of separating a number of them out for academics."
He also noted "smaller learning communities," where the students work in teams of 15 to 20 having direct access to a teacher to discuss their school work and matters outside the school that might be affecting them.
He cited Western Coventry Elementary for its student-led parent conferences. "The kids are tuned in," he said. "The kids and teachers are on the same page. That makes learning more achievable, more fun, more realistic."
Flat River Middle School fared well, with 77 percent meeting or exceeding the standard in reading, 63 percent in math and 58 percent in writing. Knotty Oak Middle School did not score as well in reading, with 61 percent meeting or exceeding state standards, but held its own in math (57 percent) and writing (54 percent).
On a state-to-state comparison, Rhode Island scored markedly worse in reading and math and about the same in writing. In Rhode Island, 59 percent of students were proficient in reading compared with 66 percent in New Hampshire and 67 percent in Vermont. In math, the figures were 50 percent in Rhode Island, 62 percent in New Hampshire and 63 percent in Vermont.
In writing, however, while 51 percent of Rhode Island's students were proficient, in New Hampshire the figure was only 50 percent and in Vermont, 53 percent.
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