International+Charter+2013

Stephanie Otis School Description

Welcome to the **International Charter School!** Pawtucket, Rhode Island



The International Charter School is a unique school located at 334 Pleasant Street in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. It serves 310 students in grades Kindergarten through 5th grade with a 12:1 student-teacher ratio, with Teachers Assistants in all Kindergarten and 1st grade classes. ICS uses a dual language bilingual education model, in which all students learn 50% of the time in English and 50% of the time in either Spanish or Portuguese, depending on the program of choice. (The International Charter School, n.d.). Therefore, the International Charter School serves a unique population and draws a unique team of faculty. The ICS believes that integrating the second language instruction with academic and other content matter is more effective than teaching the second language in isolation. We will be exploring student demographics, teaching quality, achievement success, and funding of ICS.
 * Introduction:**

// "The mission of ICS is to integrate the diverse languages and cultures of the communities it serves by teaching all students in two languages-in Spanish and English or in Portuguese and English-and helping children develop an appreciation of other cultures. Children learn to work collaboratively from their multiple experiences and backgrounds, striving towards high standards of academic achievement. Everyone is part of a community of learners, engaging in inquiry about the world, themselves, and others" // (The International Charter School, n.d.).
 * Mission Statement: **

The student demographics of the International Charter School are unique and rather unusual. The majority (half!) of the population is Latino, rather than White. The ethnicities of ICS include: 50% Latino, 28% White, 20% African American, 1% Asian, and 1% Native American. (The International Charter School, n.d.). The language learners are split virtually equally, which is intentionally done in the application process. Of their students, 51% are dominant in Portuguese or Spanish and 49% are dominant in English. (The International Charter School, n.d.). This is extremely unusual for a school. The majority of the students that attend ICS live in Pawtucket, Central Falls, and Providence. However, ICS is a statewide school. It currently enrolls students who live in 12 different Rhode Island Communities. (The International Charter School, n.d.). Another unique aspect of the student demographics of the International Charter School is that 15% of its students are born outside of the United States. The ICS currently has students enrolled who were born in Bolivia, Brazil, Cape Verde, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, the Ivory Coast, the Philippines, Portugal, and Puerto Rico. (The International Charter School). Generally, charter schools are notorious for having an extremely low percentage of Special Education students, if any at all. At ICS, 7% of the students are receiving Special Education Services. This is about half of the state level, 15%. (InfoWorks! RIDE, 2012-13). However, most of the students with IEPs attend all regular classes for the entire school day. (The International Charter School, n.d.). This is refreshingly unusual. Because of it’s unique population, 39% of students at ICS received ESL/Bilingual Education services in the 2012-2013 school year, which is extremely high compared to the state’s 6%. (InfoWorks! RIDE, 2012-13). Additionally, the ICS also has a slightly higher population of students (57%) that are eligible for subsidized lunch, compared to the 46% of the state’s eligible students. This could be due to the locations and ethnicities of ICS’s students. In the 2011-2012 school year, ICS had a 96% attendance rate, which runs true to the 95% attendance rate of Rhode Island. It also only had a 6% chronic absenteeism rate, which is significantly lower than Rhode Island’s rate of 17%. (InfoWorks! RIDE, 2012-13). Overall, the International Charter School serves a unique population in which Latinos and ELL students from RI cities are the majority population.
 * Student Demographics: **

Based on the student survey, overall, students are happy with their teachers, their quality of teaching, and their dedication to the students. In fact, 100% of the students felt that their teachers like teaching, which is extremely important in motivating students. (InfoWorks! RIDE, 2012-13). ICS appears to have a strong team of faculty. This team includes: Teachers, Teacher’s Assistants, Special Education Teachers, a Reading Support Teacher, a Music Teacher, a Physical Education Teacher, a Visual Arts Teacher, a Library and Technology Specialist, a Behavior Support Specialist, and a School Social Worker. 4% of ICS’s teachers have emergency certification, which is slightly higher than the 1% of emergency certified teachers in the state. The teacher-student ratio (1:12) is also very close to the state’s ratio (1:11). However, there is a significant difference in the number of not highly qualified teachers at ICS. In the state of Rhode Island, 3% of the teachers are not highly qualified, meaning they have not obtained a minimum of a Bachelor’s Degree (Associate’s Degree if they are a teacher’s assistant). At the International Charter School, 9% of the teachers (possibly including the teacher’s assistants) are not highly qualified. (InfoWorks! RIDE, 2012-13). This is three times the state level. However, this significant difference may be due to the unique type of faculty ICS needs because of its dual-language immersion program. Based on student and parent evaluation, overall, the quality of teaching at the International Charter School appears commendable.
 * Quality of Teaching: **

The International Charter School continues to grow in popularity. There has been a 43% increase in the number of applicants. In the 2010-2011 school year, the International Charter School met the Annual Yearly Progress (AYP), meeting the proficiency standards of No Child Left Behind (NCLB). (InfoWorks! RIDE, 2012-13). However, ICS percentages of proficiency in the NECAP assessments are all below (as much as 15%) the state averages of proficiency. We can infer that this difference may be due to the large amount of ELL students ICS houses, putting them at a slight disadvantage for NECAP testing. However, we should also remember that they did meet AYP. Also, in comparison to the state of Rhode Island, the International Charter School has a very high stability index (87% and 97%, respectively) and a very low mobility index (14% and 3%, respectively), which shows that ICS is successfully retaining their students. ICS only had 7 incidents of suspension in the 2011-2012 school year. As a testament to their successes, the International Charter School was 1 of 4 schools featured in the national report // Next Generation Charter Schools: Meeting the Needs of Latinos and English Language Learners //. (National Council of La Raza, 2010). This honor came as a result of the school's success in narrowing achievement gaps between white and minority students, as well as closing gaps between ELLs and non-ELLs, which is a difficult task and an outstanding achievement.
 * Achievement Success: **

The International Charter School is an independent, self-funded corporation, with its own 501c3 status and is responsible for its own budget. ICS has its own Executive Director and Board of Trustees. Funding data is unavailable.
 * Funding: **

**Conclusion:** The International Charter School provides a unique opportunity to the state to build on the strengths and needs of the community and to create global citizens who are capable of crossing linguistic and cultural frontiers with ease. Given their distinctive student population and unique learning approach, the International Charter School and their dual language immersion program is seeing success. They are serving the community, preserving native languages, teaching new languages, and closing the achievement gap while reaching academic success. ICS has taken a bold approach to teaching and learning, and it is working.

 References Center for American Progress: National Council of La Raza (2010). //Next generation charter schools: meeting the needs of latinos and english language learners//. Retrieved from www.americanprogress.org/issues/2010/09/pdf/charter_schools.pdf

//InfoWorks! Rhode Island Education Data Reporting - RIDE.ri.gov//. (2013). Retrieved from http://infoworks.ride.ri.gov/school/international-charter-school

//International Charter School : Teaching in the Languages of Our Community: English, Español, Português//. (n.d.). Retrieved October 28, 2013, from http://www.internationalcharterschool.org/