Rhode Island Education Commissioner Deborah Gist Visits Portsmouth

Rhode Island Department of Education Commissioner Deborah Gist visited Portsmouth Middle School Tuesday night to host a forum titled “Transforming Education in Rhode Island: All Students Ready for Success in College, Careers and Life.”

Gist’s visit consisted of a short presentation on RIDE’s current goals, followed by a question-and-answer session in which Gist responded to concerns addressed by the audience.

“I’m really, really happy to be back in Portsmouth,” said Gist. “I have had wonderful visits every time I’ve come.”  

Gist’s enthusiasm for Portsmouth may have something to do with the achievements of its school system. During her presentation, Gist demonstrated that Portsmouth had improved graduation rates compared to the 2009 state average: 85% compared to the average of 76%. Portsmouth schools also showed lower rates of chronic absenteeism and dropouts.

“Portsmouth is outperforming the state at every single measure, at every single grade level, with a couple of really important areas that I would highlight. One is science,” said Gist, adding that Portsmouth High School had the highest science scores in the state.

While Gist was swift to praise Portsmouth for its educational prowess, she also identified the problems that persist in Rhode Island schools at the state level. Not only are Rhode Island schools performing beneath other New England states in math and science, Gist claimed, they are also under performing compared to the national average.

Reading and writing scores for Rhode Island students were a bit more generous.

“I do think that reading and writing is a strength of ours in the state,” said Gist, noting that Rhode Island did better than New Hampshire and Vermont in a New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP) evaluation last year.   

Gist maintained, however, that there is still much work to be done.

“We certainly have a lot to learn from Massachusetts,” she said, remarking that parts of RIDE’s current plans were inspired by ongoing changes in Massachusetts.