New Teacher Evaluation and Support Systems were fully implemented in every public school during the 2012-13 school year. Rhode Island educators have had a significant voice in revising the Student Learning Objective (SLO) process for the 2013-14 school year. Through surveys, focus groups, working groups, principal shadows, regional meetings, and…

Annually, ACT provides a snapshot of the college and career readiness of ACT-tested high school graduates. This report is offered as a service to inform policymakers and practitioners about selected indicators of effectiveness and how that translates into readiness. It is designed to stimulate discussion, inquiry, and action. This report for the…

Presenting nine case studies describing new assessment efforts, this book is designed to foster communication and dialogue about the products and the processes of development. Comprehensive introductory and concluding chapters examine the background of and future challenges facing authentic assessment. Intermediate chapters discusses authentic…

To reduce Rhode Island's high percentage of students being classified as learning disabled, an advisory committee recommended development of a statewide Learning Disabilities Identification Process (L.D.I.D.), to prepare evaluation teams to consistently consider regulatory criteria and to justify their decisions when making learning disability…

This guide is designed to provide Rhode Island educators and families with information about appropriate interventions, recommended referral procedures, recommended diagnostic procedures, and legal issues regarding students with attention deficit disorders. It begins by answering frequently asked questions about attentional disorders and…

Under Rhode Island's new School Accountability for Learning and Teaching (SALT) program, the state gathers information from such sources as statewide performance assessments, in-depth community surveys, and computerized, comparative analyses of school expenditures. Article offers basic guidelines for program evaluation. (MLF)

A 3-year Literacy/English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) program is described that was established in 1988 to improve access to literacy for Rhode Island's adult non-native speakers of English. In this handbook, the two literacy facilitators associated with the program explore issues significant to a more learner-centered practice of addressing the…

In 1999, Rhode Island students in grades 3, 7, and 10 took a performance assessment in writing as part of the Rhode Island State Assessment Program. These two documents, a guide for educators and a guide for parents, describe the test and its scoring. The test is called a performance assessment because it requires the students to demonstrate their…

This document describes Rhode Island's School Accountability for Learning and Teaching (SALT) process. It defines SALT's vision, outlines Article 31 (which requires schools to engage in self-study and goal setting and sets rigorous requirements for schools), and explains how SALT concepts mirror and respond to Article 31 demands. SALT's vision is…

Data on secondary social studies education in Rhode Island public schools are analyzed. Of 36 schools contacted in 1982-83, 25 department chairpersons and 154 teachers responded to questionnaires covering professional background, chairperson role perceptions, faculty program perceptions, departmental offerings, and instructional techniques and…