NEW: RIDE Commissioner Wagner Stepping Down to Join Brown’s Annenberg Institute
Monday, March 18, 2019
Rhode Island Department of Education Commissioner Ken Wagner announced that he is stepping down from his position to join the Annenberg Institute at Brown University as a Senior Fellow for Education Policy and Practice.
“I have been fortunate to work with an incredible team of people over the last three and a half years. Together, we have been able to create exciting new opportunities for students, to better support and invest in our teachers, and to distribute leadership so that each of us can understand the role we play in improving schools,” said Wagner.
HIs last day in office is expected to be April 26.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“Ken came to Rhode Island at a time when our most important education stakeholders felt disconnected from one another, and the state lacked a clear understanding of the road ahead. Through a thoughtful approach to elevate student voices, empower families, and collaborate with educators, Ken brought stakeholders to the table to work together in meaningful ways. Ken helped us all to understand the levers we need to push on to improve teaching and learning, and his leadership positioned us to move forward on a long-term, comprehensive education strategy,” said Governor Gina Raimondo.
RI Students Performed 17-20% Worse Than MA on New Assessments—See RI District Rankings
In November, the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) released performance results for students in grades 3 through 8 on the Rhode Island Comprehensive Assessment System (RICAS) -- and on average, Rhode Island scored 17 percentage points lower than Massachusetts in ELA and 20 percentage points lower in mathematics, according to RIDE.
RICAS is the Rhode Island administration of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) -- an no Rhode Island district scored within the top 10 percent of Massachusetts communities.
Wagner as Commissioner
Wagner came to Rhode Island in August of 2015.
According to RIDE, under Wagner's leadership, the department took on a comprehensive statewide facilities assessment that led to a $250 million bond referendum to invest in Rhode island's schools.
The agency has also tripled enrollment in statewide pre-K and is a part of Governor Raimondo’s proposal for universal pre-K expansion.
Rhode Island completed its ESSA Plan and overhauled its system of assessments during Wagner’s tenure, now providing free PSAT and SAT for all students.
Related Slideshow: 2017-2018 RICAS Math Rankings for “Meeting or Exceeding Expectations”
The Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) released performance results on November 29, 2018 for students in grades 3 through 8 on the Rhode Island Comprehensive Assessment System, or RICAS. The 2017-2018 school year was the first year of implementation for the RICAS, which is the Rhode Island administration of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS), the assessment tool of the nation’s highest-performing state for public education.
Data was suppressed to "ensure confidentiality" for Urban Collaborative, the RI School for the Deaf, and Trinity Academy for Performing Arts because greater than 95% of students did not meet expectations; data was suppressed to "ensure confidentiality" for DCYF because the minimum reporting size of ten was not met.
Below are the rankings of school districts -- and charter schools -- with the data provided by RIDE.
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