Timing of student test scores' release continues to roil RI gubernatorial race

PROVIDENCE — The controversy over the release of the state’s annual standardized test scores continues, with Gov. Dan McKee denying that he has seen the scores despite a WPRI story that says the vendor has already released that data.

The vendor, Cognia, told WPRI that the Rhode Island Comprehensive Assessment System (RICAS) results have already been sent to the state Department of Education.

When asked about the release in a WPRI-sponsored gubernatorial debate Tuesday, McKee he didn't know the scores..

"I said I do understand what the scores are going to look like, because of the circumstances of the last two years of working virtually, out of classroom(s), low attendance, teachers trying to struggle to deliver education plans online," he said.

"It really doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand that the scores are going to be low," he said. "... I never said I knew the scores. I don't know the scores."

Previous reporting: RICAS standardized test results will come in mid-November, after general election

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Scores for the Massachusetts version of the test were released in September, and the RICAS results have typically been released in October, although in 2018, then-Gov. Gina Raimondo was accused of delaying the test scores until after the November election.

When RIDE confirmed earlier this month that the test scores would be released in mid-November, Republican gubernatorial challenger Ashley Kalus accused McKee of playing politics with the scores, which were dismal last year.

“Given that last year’s RICAS scores showed only 33 percent of Rhode Island students were proficient in English and only 20 percent were performing at grade-level in math, it should come as no surprise that Dan McKee wants to suppress the results until after the election," she said in a statement. "He clearly fears the likelihood of concrete data showing parents his administration is failing children."

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Late Friday, McKee press spokeswoman Andrea Palagi responded to the report that RIDE had the data:

“The governor has been very clear, he does not yet personally have and has not personally seen the RICAS scores in any form. The Governor expects the RICAS scores to be released as soon as RIDE determines the data is ready. RIDE can provide further details on where they are in the process of preparing the data for release.”

Kalus fired back Saturday morning with the following salvo:

"On Tuesday night, Dan McKee looked into the camera during WPRI’s debate and lied to the people of Rhode Island. His claim that the state did not yet have the latest RICAS scores has been proven false. He intentionally misled every parent and teacher in our state for political preservation. Dan McKee intentionally, willingly, and knowingly deceived the very people he swore an oath to serve. If we cannot trust this governor to tell the truth about matters relating to our children, how can we believe anything that comes out of his mouth?"

In a lengthy statement, RIDE stuck to its position that politics did not play a role in the timing of the test scores’ release.

“RIDE received the vendor's initial data file after Massachusetts as in every year prior, which is why Rhode Island generally releases scores after Massachusetts,” said spokesman Victor Morente. “When the initial data is received — it is not final, validated data. The quality control process begins at that time.”

RIDE, he said, then prepares individual student reports along with presentations, graphs, charts and other files, which are checked for accuracy. This year, Morente said, RIDE is also creating personalized student videos to help families understand the test results.

School districts are expected to receive hard copies of these reports from Cognia on Nov. 10.

“Until this thorough process is complete, these draft materials are confidential and have not been shared — including with the governor,” Morente said.

Modeled after the highly regarded Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System, the RICAS are administered to students in grades three though eight in the spring.

Educators have historically complained that they get the scores too late in the school year to identify areas of weakness in student learning and in the curriculum. That’s one of the reasons testing was moved from the fall to the spring.

Last year’s RICAS scores were abysmal, with students in 29 schools scoring below 5% on math or English proficiency, and sometimes both.

The disruptions caused by COVID were largely to blame, with test scores plummeting across the country, and even high-performing schools suffering from distance learning.

Achievement First, a network of high-performing charter schools in Providence, plunged from 57% proficiency in math in 2019 to 16.5% today. Blackstone Valley Prep, another highly regarded mayoral charter school in northern Rhode Island, went from 50% proficient in math to 25% proficient.

Every district in Rhode Island saw declines in student performance, with steeper losses in the urban districts and among students of color, special-education students and English language learners, those most affected by the pandemic.

Participation in the RICAS also fell, dramatically so among students most at risk.

Linda Borg covers education for The Journal.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Timing of RICAS scores release continues to roil RI governors race