Portsmouth+District+Report

The Portsmouth School District is a very strong and well-supported one to attend. Statistics show that this district provides a very lucrative and rich education. With families providing the financial background for the school, any other resources are just a bonus. Seeing the pedigree of all the teachers, the community support, performance scores on tests and funding, we see that Portsmouth has deep support in many educational basis'. To just put the icing on the cake, safety, graduation & attendance rates are very good compared to the state of Rhode Island. This balance and mixture of financial, community and teacher support proves that Portsmouth schools provide not only a great education but also a safe, effective and strong learning environment for its students.

__Teaching Pedigree__ The town of Portsmouth looks to have good quality teachers. Teachers with Emergency Certification ("individuals who do not qualify for full state certification may be granted an emergency certificate to teach in the public schools, upon written request of the Superintendent of Schools, when fully certified applicants are not available") is the same for both state and town wide percentages (1%). In Portsmouth, there are zero percent not highly qualified teachers, while for Rhode Island, the percentage is 3%. A "Not Highly Qualified Teacher" must "1) have a Bachelor’s Degree, 2) hold full state certification and 3) demonstrate subject matter competency in the core academic subject(s) by having a major or its equivalent or by passing a rigorous content knowledge test." One unique statistic however, is that the teacher to student ratio is the same for Portsmouth and the state, each teacher is assigned to eleven students. (Rhode Island Department of Education, 2009)[1]

__Family & Community Life__ The families and communities in Portsmouth seem to be well off and not very diverse. The student eligibility for subsidized lunch in Portsmouth is 12 % while in Rhode Island it is 43%. There are only 9% of students from various racial or ethnic backgrounds. Less than one percent of students are receiving ESL Education Services, while 5% are receiving it as a state. However, 16% of students in Portsmouth are receiving Special Education Services, which is the same percentage for the state. (RIDE, 2009)

__Performance__ When relating the percents of students who are proficient in the NECAP Assessment, Portsmouth is well above average in every category. In the elementary level, third grade math for the district was 85%, while the sate average was 62%. In middle school, proficiency was displayed continuously throughout as well. Eighth grade reading was 90% while the state was only 74%. The community also showed that it excelled in high school also with 52% proficiency in eleventh grade science, while the state average was only 20%. Overall, Portsmouth was above that state average in proficiency on the NECAP assessments in every category. (RIDE, 2009)

__Safety, Attendance & Graduation Rates__ Overall, the school districts in Portsmouth seem to be safer, have higher attendance rates and graduation rates compared to the state of Rhode Island. Although the attendance rate difference was very slight with Portsmouth's rates at 95% compared to 93% for the state. The data shows that 90% is the target attendance rate that the state was striving for so Portsmouth did well. The graduation rate after four years in Portsmouth is 85.6% which is substantially better than the at 75.8%. Even the five year graduation rate in Portsmouth is better than the state, 85.7% compared to 75.8%. Depending on the number of students who attend Portsmouth schools, the number of incidents leading to suspension seem vastly lowered out of the state as a whole. A very small percentage of the incidents in the state come out of Portsmouth schools making it seem relatively safe. (RIDE, 2009)

__Funding__ Portsmouth is well-funded and substantially supported by median family income, per pupil expenditure and property value per student. Compared to East Greenwich and Central Falls, Portsmouth ranks higher in median family income than Central Falls but lower than East Greenwich. The property value per student in Portsmouth is much greater than Central Falls and a bit more than East Greenwich and the difference between the values or Central Falls to Portsmouth is shocking. Central Falls is close to $200,000 compared to $1,235,887 in Portsmouth, which is more than five times greater. Per pupil expenditure is $12,346.93 in Portsmouth which is lower than the state average and lower than both East Greenwich and Central Falls. (RIDE, 2009)

Financial, family and community support provide a tremendous backbone for school districts. Portsmouth schools are lucky that they have this great start to build on and add to. With great teachers and high test scores, the Portsmouth school district is a great one to be a part of. Teachers are highly qualified and well-funded making each students learning experience that much greater. Any student lucky enough to attend Portsmouth schools will most likely see a bright future and great opportunities in further education and/ or careers.

^ Rhode Island Department of Education. (2009). InfoWorks LIVE! A Rhode Island Education Data Initiative - RIDE.ri.gov. Retrieved November 2, 2011, from []