New Brief on Homeless Children and Youth in U.S. Schools
August 3, 2010 - A Critical Moment: Child & Youth Homelessness in Our Nation's Schools, a new brief from First Focus and the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth, summarizes recent federal data as well as findings from a national survey of school districts and state departments of education. Analysis in the brief of recently released federal data shows that the number of homeless children and youth identified in public schools has increased for the second year in a row, and by 41% over the past two school years. The economic downturn was cited most frequently as the reason for increases in child and youth homelessness, followed by greater school and community awareness of homelessness, and the foreclosure crisis.

Rhode Island is Finalist in Race to the Top Competition
July 27, 2010 - Rhode Island is one of 1 of 18 finalists in Phase II of the Race to the Top competition! If Rhode Island is selected as a winner, the Race to the Top grant could bring $75 million over four years to Rhode Island to improve public schools and provide support to educators and students. Read the U.S. Department of Education's press release announcing the finalists or Rhode Island’s application.

Rhode Island Adopts Education Funding Formula
July 2, 2010: The Rhode Island General Assembly has enacted an education funding formula for allocation of state aid to school districts based on student need and student enrollment. For more information about the formula, read Education Commissioner Deborah Gist's Op-Ed in The Providence Journal.

An education funding formula, hailed as a breakthrough, faces its critics
By David Scharfenberg, Providence Phoenix
June 24, 2010: For years, Rhode Island was one of just two states in the union without a funding formula for its public schools. And then, for a time, it was the only state with that dubious distinction...

Diplomas Count 2010
June 10, 2010: Diplomas Count 2010: Graduation by the Numbers - Putting Data to Work for Student Success explores how the innovative use of data is driving change in school systems across the nation and combating the dropout crisis. The report highlights early-warning systems that reduce dropout rates by identifying students at risk of failure; consider ways that insights from deep data analysis can result in tailored interventions; and examine how an infusion of federal stimulus dollars can strengthen national and local cultures of innovation built on data.

Expanded Learning Time by the Numbers
May 3, 2010: Some schools serving large concentrations of low-income and minority students have dramatically improved student achievement by increasing instructional time in the form of a longer school day, week, or year for all students. Expanded learning time (ELT) schools bring important resources into the classroom and recognize that it's not just more, but also better, clasroom learining time that is key to student success. View Expanded Learning Time by the Numbers from the Center for American Progress.

RI Kids Count TV Show Focuses on Preparing Students for Higher Ed
April 30, 2010 - City Year Rhode Island's Jennie Johnson, Executive Director, and Maggie Bowman, Senior Corps Member, speak to Elizabeth Burke Bryant, Host of the Rhode Island KIDS COUNT Cable Television Show, about college preparation and access.

Helping High School Dropouts Improve Their Prospects
April 28, 2010: Dropping out of high school has serious long-term consequences not only for individuals but also for society. According to expert estimates, between 3.5 and 6 million young Americans between the ages of 16 and 24 are school dropouts. Lowering the number of adolescents who fail to finish high school and helping those who drop out get back on track must be a major policy goal for our nation. Learn more in the Issue Brief Helping High School Dropouts Improve Their Prospects from the Brookings Foundation.

New Tools to Improve College Access
April 27, 2010: Putting Kids on the Pathway to College is a set of tools developed by the Annenberg Institute for School Reform based on a study of thirteen New York City High Schools that are "beating the odds" in improving college access for low-performing ninth-graders. The study identified key strategies and best practices these schools used to help their students suceed. These tools include rubrics, surveys, focus group protocols, and examples of best practices to help high schools and their partners examine how well they are preparing students, espcially low-income students, for timely graduation and college acceptance. Explore the tools or download the research paper.

New Report from the Education Trust on Federal Education Funding Inequalities
April 26, 2010: A new report from the Education Trust, a national organization focused on closing educational achievement gaps, identifies inequalities in federal education funding between high and low-poverty schools and suggests strategies for reducing these gaps. Click to read the report.

RI KIDS COUNT TV Show Focuses on RI Public Education System
April 23, 2010 - View new episodes of the Rhode Island KIDS COUNT Television Show featuring Senator Hanna Gallo and Representative Edith Ajello discussing the proposed RI education funding formula, and Rhode Island is Ready, a campaign to ensure that all Rhode Island children have access to a quality of education.

2010 Factbook Data Now Available!
April 12, 2010: The 2010 Rhode Island Kids Count Factbook is now available! The Factbook tracks the progress of 67 indicators, across five areas of child well-being including Family and Community, Economic Well-Being, Health, Safety, and Education. Data are also available for Rhode Island's 39 cities and towns.

New Report on Engaging Students, Parents and Teachers to End the Dropout Crisis
April 5, 2010: A new report from Civic Enterprises and Hart Research documents the discussions of parents, teachers and students, on their different and sometimes conflicting views of the causes and cures of dropping out of high schoool. Featured in the report is a toolkit that provides communitites with a guide to conduct dialogues in their own schools. View the report here.

Rhode Island Department of Education Releases New Strategic Plan
March 23, 2010: The Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has released the final version of the Department's strategic plan, Transforming Education in Rhode Island, which will guide the work done by the department over the next five years. Click to download Transforming Education in Rhode Island.

What Works for Older Youth
March 15, 2010: A new fact sheet from Child Trends gives a comprehensive overview of 31 programs that evaluated youth outcomes during the transition to adulthood (ages 18 to 25), finding that education and career programs can be especially effective for low-income youth and for youth targeted from younger ages. Specific intervention strategies, such as mentoring, case management, and child care for young parents, are associated with program success across youth outcomes. Some substance use and reproductive health programs were among those not consistently found to be effective for this age group.Click here to access What Works for Older Youth During the Transition to Adulthood.

Phase of the America's Promise Grad Nation Campaign Announced
March 1, 2010: America's Promise Alliance publicly unveiled the next phase of the two-year Dropout Prevention Campaign titled Grad Nation: Mobilizing America to End the Dropout Crisis. Grad Nation will place a specific focus on supporting the communities that are home to the nation's 2,000 lowest-performing high schools, which account for approximately 50% of all dropouts. The Campaign will advocate for programs and policies that help both prevent dropout and bring back those students who have already left school. Click to access more information about the Campaign.

Two Articles Examine Expanded Learning Time
February 24, 2010:  Two recent articles from the Center for American Progress focus on Expanded Learning Time (ELT) in schools. The first article examines partnerships between ELT Schools and communities, where partnering leads to making strides in planning and implementation of new instructional strategies to better align core academics, enrichment, support services, and family engagment strategies to build stronger educational experiences for students. The second article, Transforming Schools to Meet the Needs of Students, gives an overview of the additive benefits for students when ELT programs are implemented.

Five Critical Elements of Urban School Success
February 9, 2010: Organizing Schools for Improvement: Lessons from Chicago, is a new book based on 15 years of data on public elementary schools in Chicago. The book identifies five factors that work in combination to spur success in urban schools. The five factors identified are: strong leadership, a welcoming attitutude toward parents and formation of connections with the community, development of professional capacity which refers to the quality of the teaching staff, a learning climate that is safe, welcoming, stimulating and nurturing, and strong instructional guidance and materials. Learn more at Organizing Schools for Improvement: Lessons from Chicago.

Governor's FY2011 Budget Request Snapshot

February 5, 2010: Rhode Island KIDS COUNT has prepared the following document which examines the provisions contained within the Governor's FY2011 Budget Request. Click to Access Governor Carcieri's FY2011 Budget Request Snapshot: Implications K-12 Education in Rhode Island.
The FY2011 Budget Request Snapshot: Implications for Health Insurance Coverage for Children and Families is also available.
Snapshots for other issue areas related to child well-being will be available soon!

Diploma Attainment Among Teen Mothers
January 27,2010: New Child Trends research finds that one in three (34%) of young women who had been teen mothers did not earn a high school diploma or GED, compared with only 6% of young women who had not had a teen birth. View the factsheet, Diploma Attainment Among Teen Mothers, to learn more.

Quality Counts 2010
January 26, 2010: The Education Week Quality Counts 2010 publication is now available. This year's theme- the national debate over common academic standards- is complemented by extensive information on each state's curriculum resources, assessments, and academic standards, drawn from the research center's annual state survey. Click to view the 2010 Quality Counts Report.

Television Show Highlights Growing Readers Initiative
January 25, 2010 - View the lastest episode of the Rhode Island Kids Count Cable Television Show highlighting the partnership between Central Falls Public Schools and The Learning Community to improve students' reading proficiency districtwide.

Rhode Island Public Schools Plan to Race to the Top
January 11, 2010 - Rhode Island is preparing to apply for federal Race to The Top funds, which could bring up to $100 million over four years to improve the quality of education in the state. Commissioner Deborah A. Gist has invited the public to review Rhode Island's application before the submission deadline (January 19th). Copies of the application will be available for review on Monday and Tuesday (January 11th and 12th), at the Shepard Building, Paff Auditorium, 255 Westminster St., Providence, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

For more information on the status of the application, read Jennifer Jordan's article in The Providence Journal, R.I. teachers unions balk at supporting federal-aid application. Also available is an overview of how Race to the Top funding will accelerate progress in Rhode Island.

New commissioner opens a conversation with R.I.’s best teachers
ByJennifer D. Jordan, Journal Staff Writer
January 7, 2010 - "...Gist has made improving teacher quality the cornerstone of her seven-month tenure and has pushed hard for Rhode Island to make profound changes. These include making it harder to become and continue to work as a teacher, tying student test scores to new yearly educator evaluations, and supporting the expansion of publicly financed charter schools.."

Benefits of Intensive Remedial Reading Instruction
December 28, 2009: A new study from researchers at Carnegie Mellon University has found that intensive remedial reading instruction can bring about brain change. Researchers administered 100 hours of intensive remedial instruction to 35 8- to 10- year-old children who were poor readers, finding that over the course of the instruction, the children's brains showed positive increases in white matter. The researchers said their findings support the use of intense behavioral learning programs to address deficits such as reading disabilities or even autism. Click to read more about the findings.

New National Database on Expanded Learning Time
December 18, 2009: The National Center on Time and Learning has compiled a nationwide database of scholls that have added learning time to their schedules, and its accompanying analysis suggests that extra time might play a role in boosting middle and high school achievement. Read the report here and see the database.

Supporting Youth for Post-High School Success
December 14, 2009: A report from the American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF) profiles 23 programs primarily serving youth in middle, high and postsecondary education and that have been successful in preparing them for college and careers. The report, Success at Every Step: How 23 Programs Support Youth on the Path to College and Beyond, provides policymakers and practitioners with a short summary of the research findings for each program and a short description of why the programs work. The complete report is available here.

Rhode Island has 7 of 10 Elements Necessary for a High-Quality Longitudinal Education Data System
December 10, 2009: According to the Data Quality Campaign's (DQC) annual progress report on state data systems, eleven states reported having all ten essential elements of a high-quality longitudinal data system in place today. Every year DQC surveys all fifty states to assess progress toward implementing the ten essential elements of a high-quality longitudinal data system. This year findings indicate that every state is on track to have a longitudinal data system that can follow students from preschool through college by 2011. Rhode Island has seven out of the ten elements measured by the DQC. View the complete report, and access the Rhode Island specific report here.

New Report on Why Young People Don't Finish College
December 10, 2009: Juggling work, school and family proved to be the biggest challenge to young adults who started college but did not finish, according to Public Agenda's latest survey, With Their Whole Lives Ahead of Them. Some 2.8 million students enroll in some form of higher education each fall, but statistics show fewer than half of all college students graduate within six years. View the report, underwritten by the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation.

New Survey of Parents, Students, and Teachers about College Preparedness
December 8, 2009:
The Deloitte 2009 Educational Survey: Redefining High School as a Launch Pad, uncovers a gap between what low-income parents and students want from from high school and what high school educators see as their main job. Low-income parents and students were asked to rank the main aims of high school, and 42% of parents and 48% of the students ranked college preparation at the top. Only 9% of teachers did the same. The study also found that seven in 10 students reported strong intentions to attend college, but fewer than three in 10 said they felt prepared to handle the coursework. Only six in 10 teachers expressed confidence that they knew what students really need to be prepared for college. View the study results here.

Report Addresses Dropout Prevention and Recovery
December 8, 2009: A new report from the NGA Center for Best Practices addresses the alarming rate at which U.S. students drop out of high school. Achieving Graduation for All: A Governor's Guide to Dropout Prevention and Recovery identifies the causes of the high school dropout problem and offers a comprehensive plan for states to curb dropouts, help youth succeed, and strengthen state economies. Research shows that one in five students drop out of high school costing the nation more than $300 billion each year in lost wages and increasing public expenses. The report recommends several actions governors can take to reduce the number of dropouts.

Federal Literacy Improvement Bill Introduced in Congress
November 24, 2009: The LEARN Act provides a new comprehensive approach to literacy, and will help ensure tha high quality leteracy instruction starts early and continues through high school for students who need extra support. Of the $2.35 billion included in the bill for comprehensive literacy programs, 10 percent would go to programs for children from birth to age five, 40 ercent would go to programs for students in K-5th grade, and 40 percent would go to programs for students in grades six through twelve. For more information on the LEARN Act, click here.

Rhode Island Urban Education Task Force Releases Final Report
November 10, 2009: The Task Force has provided the state of Rhode Island with a detailed and comprehensive blueprint for improving urban education, and in some areas it has begun to be implemented. Among the recommendations of the report: Investment and expansion of public pre-kindergarten, expanded learning time opportunities, multiple pathways for student success, statewide educator quality development system, innovation for successful schools,a and educator collaboration. View the report and the executive summary.

Using Student Achievement Data to Support Instructional Decision Making
November 5, 2009: A new practice guide from What Works Clearinghouse provides a framework for using student achievement data to support instructional decision making, including how to adapt lessons or assignments in reponse to students needs, and how to alter classroom goals or objectives or modify student grouping arrangements. The report offers recommendations for creating the organizational and technological conditions that foster effective data use. View the report here.

RI Dropout Prevention Summit
October 8, 2009 - Local elected officials, business leaders, educators, youth, community leaders, parents and many more will gather for the Rhode Island Dropout Prevention Summit, featuring Dr. Robert Balfanz of Johns Hopkins University, a national leader who will discuss solutions to the graduation challenge. View the press release. Registration is required. For more information, contact Elaine Budish, Research Analyst at Rhode Island KIDS COUNT, at ebudish@rikidscount.org. 

The Summit is a collaborate effort of Rhode Island KIDS COUNT, the Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, other local partners, and the America’s Promise Alliance.

Using Student Achievemnet Data to Support Instructional Decision Making
October 2, 2009: This newly released guide offers five recommendations to help educators effectively use data to monitor students' academic progress and evaluate instructional practices. The guide recommends that schools set a clear vision for school-wide data use, develop a data-driven culture, and make data part of an ongoing cycle of instructional improvement. The guide also recommends teaching students how to use their own data to set learning goals. View the report here.

Help with College Financial Aid Forms Found to Boost College Enrollment
September 24, 2009: A new study found that students' chances of enrolling in higher education increased significantly when using simplified federal financial aid applications and receiving personalized assistance. High school seniors who received assistance with the form were 30% more likely to enroll in college the following fall than their peers. View the report here.

Listening to Latinas
September 5, 2009: The National Women's Law Center, in partnership with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, has released a report which examines the dropout crisis for Latinas and identifies the actions needed to improve their graduation rates and get them ready for college. The report features input from Latina students and adults they work with. Click to access the report.

Cable TV Show Features RI Commissioner of Education Deborah Gist
July 2009 - New Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Deborah Gist discusses her background, vision for Rhode Island, achieving a high quality education system, federal opportunies for Rhode Island and the activities planned for her first days in office on the latest episode of the Rhode Island KIDS COUNT Cable Television Show.

Multilingual Brochures on Special Education Options Now Available
June 30, 2009- Overall, 18% of Rhode Island K-12 students receive special education services public schools. This amounts to many families being involved in their child's special education plans and sometimes, needing to address disputes within their child's plan. A new brochure is available to help inform parents on how to address their disputes formally or informally, with the goal of helping families and school systems come to dispute resolution. The brochure is available in several languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Cambodian, and Hmong.

Graduation Rate in Largest Cities Well Below National Average
May 29, 2009 - Cities in Crisis 2009: Closing the Graduation Gap shows that despite some progress made by several cities from 1995-2005, the average graduation rate of the 50 largest cities is well below the national average of 71%, and there remains an 18 percentage point urban suburban gap. Cities in Crisis 2009 finds that only about half (53%) of all young people in the nation’s 50 largest cities are graduating from high school on time.

Rhode Island Kids Count TV Show Features Providence Superintendent Tom Brady
May 2009 - The May episode of the Rhode Island Kids Count Television Show features Tom Brady, the Superintendent of Providence Public Schools. Superintendent Brady speaks about his background, his work in Providence, the challenges in urban education, the relationship between the economy and education, and the importance of parent and community involvement.

New Report on the Economic Impact of the Achievement Gap in America's Schools
April 24, 2009: A new report from McKinsey and Company examines the economic impact of the education achievement gap in the U.S.  While much contreversy exists on the causes of the gap and on what the nation should do to address it, the full range of the achievement gap's character and consequences has been poorly understood. This report examines the dimesnsions of four distinct gaps in education: (1) between the United States and other nations, (2) between black and Latino students and white students, (3) between students of different income levels, and (4) between similar students schooled in different systems or regions. For black and LAtino students, failing to close the achievement gap led to an opportunity loss in 2008 of between $310 billion and $525 billion, or 2 to 4 percent of US GDP. Click here to view the McKinsey report.

The Fiscal Consequences of Dropping Out of High School in RI
April 23, 2009: The Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce has released a new report, The Fiscal Consequences of Dropping Out of High School in Rhode Island. The report details the impact of educational attainment on lifetime earnings, expected lifetime tax payments, and lifetime transfer costs and incarceration costs. Click here to view the report.

Release of 2009 Rhode Island Kids Count Factbook
April 6, 2009 - Rhode Island KIDS COUNT released its annual publication on the well-being of children and families in RI, the 2009 Rhode Island Kids Count Factbook. To view a summary of 2009 data indicators related to Education, click here.

Creating Postsecondary Pathways to Good Jobs for Young High School Dropouts
December 29, 2008 - This  paper by Linda Harris and Evelyn Ganzglass advocates expansion and better integration of efforts to connect high school dropouts between the ages of 16 and 24 to supports and pathways to bring them back into the education and labor market mainstream. The paper highlights examples of innovations in policy, program delivery, pedagogy in adult education, youth development and dropout recovery, and postsecondary education that should be built upon in developing more robust and successful dropout recovery and postsecondary education policies and practices to open the door to higher wages and career opportunities for this population.

New Secondary Regulations Adopted by the Rhode Island Board of Regents For Elementary and Secondary Education
 December 2, 2008- In September 2008, The Rhode Island Board of Regents amended the High School Regulations of 2003. The amended regulations specify course requirements, provide details about the required personal literacy plans and mathematics interventions for students performing below grade level, and place greater weight on state assessments as a graduation requirement. By 2012, districts withought full approval will no longer be authorized to grant diplomas. The NECAP state assessments will count as one-third of the proficincy measure in English and mathematics, though "state assessments shallnot be the sole grounds to prohibit graduation from high school". The Regents set the minimum achievement level, or cut score, on the NECAP tests as "partially proficient." Upon entry into middle school, each student "shall have an inidividual learning plan" that will be developed over time to document the student's "interests, needs, supports, course selections... and opportunities." Students and families "have the right to appeal graduation decisions" and districts must allow for "alternate methods of measuring the student's overall proficiency." View the new regulations here. RIDE has also disseminated guidance for districts in implementing the regulations.

New Data Resource From NCES
October 28, 2008- The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) makes a wide range of survey data availible to the public. The QuickStats program availible through the Data Lab allows users to produce a table with ease. Quick Stats provides easy access to frequently used variables in many NCES studies of students, teachers, schools and postsecondary institutions. Click here to view the site.

The Critical Importance of Addressing Chronic Absence in the Early Grades
October 20, 2008 - Although students must be present and engaged to learn, thousands of this country’s youngest students are academically at risk because of extended absences in their early school years. Nationally, an estimated one in ten kindergarten and first grade students miss nearly a month or more of school over the course of a year. This report, commissioned by the Casey Foundation, raises awareness of this issue, presents data on the scope of the challenge, and shares emerging insights about how to address it. An executive summary is also available.

Closing the Achievement Gap - Getting to RESULTS
October 20, 2008 - The first publication in this series describes the Casey Foundation’s efforts to develop a flexible but rigorous results measurement system that enables the Foundation and its grantees to reflect on practice and then change course as necessary to achieve the desired result. It also presents the Foundation’s own progress in the area of education results measurement. See all publications in the Closing the Achievement Gap series.

New Education Podcast Series
October 20, 2008 - Schools That Work is a video podcast series that features interviews with people on the ground in successful public schools that beat the odds to provide high quality education to low-income students. The podcasts were developed to accompany the Annie E. Casey Foundation's publication series, Closing the Achievement Gap, which features stories, results and lessons learned from seven years of experience at the Foundation.

New Graduation Rate Resource and Maps
September 3, 2008 – The Editorial Projects in Education Research Center has launched a new feature on its EdWeek Maps Website that provides access to detailed reports on high school graduation rates for every school district in the United States. The reports contain complete portraits of all districts in the U.S., their graduation rates and trends, and comparisons with state and national figures. This powerful online mapping tool is available at maps.edweek.org.

Schott Releases New Report and Website on Black Boys in Public Education
August 6, 2008 - The Schott Foundation published the recently released, Given Half a Chance: The Schott 50 State Report on Public Education for Black Males. According to the report, more than half of Black males did not receive diplomas with their cohort in 2005/2006. Veiw the website at www.blackboysreport.org.

Most Parents Expect Their Children to Attend College
Nine out of every ten students in grades 6 through 12 in 2003 had parents who expected them to continue their education beyond high school, according to a new National Center for Education Statistics report co-authored by Child Trends. The report, Parent Expectations and Planning for College, also finds that about two-thirds (65%) of students had parents who expected them to finish college or higher.