NECAP Scores Show Slight Improvement In NK Schools

The North Kingstown School Committee and members of the public got a glimpse of North Kingstown’s school performances this week as Assistant Superintendent Phil Auger presented this year’s New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP) scores.

(Check out Auger's full slideshow presentation in the photos on the right.)

According to Auger and the scores, NK’s scores are in good health, seeing slight improvements over the past few years. Overall, NK sits seventh out of 31 districts in math and 10^th in reading.

Elementary school reading and math both took slight dips in the past few years, with reading dropping five points (down to 77 percent proficiency) since 2007 and math dropping four points to 78 percent from 2007. Auger warned these figure may be skewed from the recent elementary school reconfiguration.

Middle school reading and math have both showed steady inclines over the past few years with math scores jumping to 79 percent from 64 over the past four years.

Scores at high schools across the state are being heavily scrutinized as federal and state requirements begin to trickle down. Scores at the high school weren’t as promising as those at the middle schools, however. Both elementary and middle school students scored high in writing, ranking seventh in the state. Students at the high school, however, are ranked 16^th in the state with 56 percent proficiency — only five points higher than the state average.

According to this year’s scores, only 48 percent of high school students are proficient in math. Though the number seems low, NK reportedly has the eighth highest math scores in the state when compared with the state average of 33 percenr proficient.

Though scores stayed largely static at the high end, Auger pointed to numbers at the lower end of the spectrum as signs of progress. According to NECAP scores, the number of students performing below the bar is quickly dropping. Only two percent of NK high school students scored below proficiency in reading while 19 percent of students fell behind in math, down from more than a quarter of the high school students a year ago. The state’s average is 38 percent.

“This is a real warning,” said Auger. “This is a tough number for the state to hold on to. If this umber stayed the same in 2014, there would be 38 percent of students who wouldn’t be graduating, and that’s a substantial number.”

One score that has administrators scratching their heads is high school writing. The roller-coaster-ride scores fluctuated between 45 and 65 percent over the past few years. According to Auger, this can often be attributed to instances when teachers emphasize a persuasive essay but a reflective essay appears on the test, throwing students for a loop. (School administrators, including Auger, are looking to implement a new grading policy that would minimize this. .)

NKHS shows impressive graduation rates with 86 percent graduating in four years and 93 percent in five years, placing the school third best in the state, and beating out the state averages of 77 percent and 79 percent by wide margins.

One area that saw major improvements in nearly every category was special education. Fifth grade math made similarly impressive gains, as scores improved 577 percent.

“All the hard work is paying off,” said Auger. “These numbers are remarkable.”

For Auger, NK’s scores are even more impressive considering another statistic — North Kingstown’s number of homeless student. North Kingstown hosts 189 homeless students, second only to Providence’s 203 students and far outpacing third place Westerly’s 87.

“When you put these numbers in context, I think it takes it to a whole new level of significance.”