Name of Report: 2004 Rhode Island Kids Count Factbook (Education Indicators)
Organizational Affiliation: Rhode Island KIDS COUNT
Author: Rhode Island KIDS COUNT
Contact Information: Rhode Island KIDS COUNT, One Union Station
Providence , RI 02903 , 401-351-9400 (telephone), rikids@rikidscount.org (e-mail),www.rikidscount.org (website)
Date: 2004
Pages: 144
Content Summary
The 2004 Rhode Island Kids Count Factbook provides statistical data on the status of children in Rhode Island, and is an important resource for community leaders and policy-makers. This tenth-annual work also includes an aggregate profile based on data from six core cities ( Providence , Pawtucket , Woonsocket , Newport , West Warwick and Central Falls ) in which more than fifteen percent of children live in families with income below the federal poverty level. . Using the most current available data, the 2004 Rhode Island Kids Count Factbook presents 54 indicators in the areas of Family and Community, Economic Well-Being, Health, Safety, and Education.
Major Findings
The major findings presented here reflect information from the 8 indicators in the Education section of the 2004 Rhode Island Kids Count Factbook . All data in this summary are specific to the state of Rhode Island , unless otherwise noted. The Factbook also includes additional data on each of Rhode Island ’s 39 cities and towns.
Infant and Pre-School Child Care:
- High quality child care for young children is important for school readiness. High quality care can generate a four-to-one return on investment.
- In 2003, there were 25,062 slots in licensed child care centers or certified family child care homes in Rhode Island.
- Infant and toddler care is often more expensive to provide because of the need for more intense supervision and interaction.
- Research shows that the quality of infant care is often low.
- Strategies for promoting access to high quality child care for infants include combining multiple funding streams and the formation of collaborative relationships with programs such as Early Head Start.
Children Enrolled in Head Start:
- Between 1997 and 2000 there was a steady increase in the number of children who participated in Head Start.
- As of 2003, Head Start served 53 percent of the estimated 4,989 eligible children ages 3 and 4 in Rhode Island.
School-Age Care:
- In 2003, there were 14,236 licensed child care slots for children ages 6 to 12 in Rhode Island.
- 18 percent of Rhode Island children in grades five to eight are home after school without adult supervision for more than three hours a day at least three days per week.
- Lack of adequate adult supervision is linked to such issues as depression, behavioral problems, and poor academic achievement.
Children Receiving Child Care Subsidies:
- In Rhode Island, the number of children receiving child care subsidies increased from 6,077 in December of 1996 to 13,666 in December of 2003.
- As of December 2003, low-income working families used 72 percent of all child care subsidies; families receiving cash assistance through the Family Independence Program (FIP) used 22 percent of the child care subsidies.
- Child care subsidies increase the likelihood that low-income parents can work and that their children can access higher quality care.
Full-Day Kindergarten:
- In 2003-2004, 41 percent of Rhode Island kindergarteners were in a full-day program; 75 percent of the full-day kindergarteners live in the core cities.
- As of January 1, 2004, children must be five years old by September 1 rather than December 31 to enroll in kindergarten.
English Language Learners (ELL):
- In 2003, of the 9,723 English Language Learners, 73 percent spoke Spanish, 6 percent spoke Portuguese and 3 percent spoke Cape Verdean and 17 percent spoke other languages including Cambodian, Laotian, French, Chinese, Hmong, Cantonese, and Haitian Creole .
- Economic self-sufficiency is linked to English language ability and educational success; as a result, immigrants lacking literacy in English and who have not received higher education credentials are often forced into low-wage jobs and poverty.
- In the last decade, the increase in the Latino population of Rhode Island accounted for all of the state’s population increase.
Children Enrolled in Special Education:
- Students with speech/language impairments and students with learning disabilities account for 68 percent of special education enrollment.
- Special education enrollment increased from 16 to 21 percent of all students between the 1992-1993 and 2000-2003 school years.
Student Mobility:
- Nationally, children under age five, children of color, children living in low-income households or renter households and immigrants have higher rates of mobility.
- In Rhode Island , student mobility is linked to attendance. Students who move are absent more often than students who do not move..
- Children that move perform worse on standardized tests than children that have not experienced mobility.
Fourth-Grade Reading Skills:
- In 2003, 70% of Rhode Island fourth graders met or exceeded standards for Basic Understanding in reading and 57% met or exceeded standards for Analysis and Interpretation .
- Basic Understanding scores declined in all of the core cities between the 2001-2002 and 2002-2003 school years.
- Analysis and Interpretation scores declined or remained the same in four core cities, yet improved in Newport and Central Falls .
High-Performing Schools:
- Twenty-nine percent of Rhode Island schools were classified as high performing in 2003. In the core cities, however, only 2 percent of the schools were high performing; 79 percent of schools in the core cities were in need of improvement.
- Of the 123 schools in need of improvement in Rhode Island only 21 were making progress; a third of the schools making progress are located in the core cities.
School Attendance:
- Attendance rates in the core cities overall are lower than in the remainder of Rhode Island at each school level.
- Research shows that youth who participate in mentoring programs have fewer unexcused absences and better attitudes toward school than youth who do not participate.
Suspensions:
- 31 percent of the disciplinary actions in Rhode Island public schools are attributed to students enrolled in special education during the 2002-2003 school year.
- The majority (62 percent) of suspensions to Rhode Island public school students of all grades were out-of-school suspensions.
- In 2002, the Rhode Island Task Force on Racial Bias and School Discipline concluded that as many as one-third of Rhode Island school districts show an over-representation of minorities in suspension data.
High School Graduation Rate:
- In 2003 in Rhode Island, 85% of White students, 81% of Asian/Pacific Islander students, 71% of Black students, 66% of Latino students and 62% of American Indian students graduated from high school.
- In Rhode Island , the high school drop-out rate for students with disabilities was 26 percent for the 2002-2003 school year.
- Nationally, 11 percent of students with disabilities who graduated from high school received an alternative credential.
- In 2003 in Rhode Island , the graduation rate in the core cities was lower than in the remainder of the state.
Teens Not in School and Not Working
- Research has shown that disengagement from school begins in early childhood.
- Parents and teacher need to help children stay engaged both during the school day and during after-school activities, address weak academic and social skills and reward students’ effort.
Related Issues
Economic self-sufficiency is linked to English-language literacy. Adult participation and success in ESL as well as the availability of ESL courses are important issues for immigrant families. Ellen Skilton-Sylvester posits that students’ social context and multiple social identities shape their investment in language and literacy programs.
Reference List
Skilton-Sylvester, Ellen. “Should I Stay or Should I Go? Investigating Cambodian Women's Participation and Investment in Adult ESL Programs.” Adult Education Quarterly 53.1 (2002): 9-26.
How to Access Report
www.rikidscount.org/