Introduction The original Chart a Course document was published in January 2020, envisioned as a 10-year plan by the Rhode Island Foundation-convened Long Term Education Planning Committee. This two-year progress report is intended to indicate where we, as a state, are in meeting the priorities, strategies, and suggested next steps that were identified by the Committee, as well as to serve as a call to action for strategic change. It must be noted that the past three school years have been greatly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced schools to shift to distance learning for the end of the 2019-20 school year and to implement rigorous health and safety protocols for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years. These pandemic related disruptions are evident in the most recent assessments3 where the percentage of students meeting or exceeding expectations in English Language Arts (ELA) dropped 5 percentage points, from approximately 38% in 2019 to 33% in 2021, while the percentage of students meeting or exceeding expectations in Mathematics dropped 10 percentage points, from 30% in 2019 to 20% in 2021. Decreases were seen across all demographics including race/ ethnicity and socioeconomic status. Black and Hispanic students’ scores fell from 22% in ELA to 18%; in math, scores dropped from 15% to 8%. Student participation also decreased by 10 percentage points in both Mathematics and ELA compared to 2019 levels. Based on the RI Comprehensi Assessment System (RICAS) administered to students in grades 3-8
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