Newport+District+Report

Newport, RI is an island located in Southern Rhode Island. Newport is a popular tourist attraction, because of this, the part of Newport that is connected to the bay appears wealthy and well-to-do. However, there are many other parts of Newport that the tourists don't see, which is the area where the lower and middle class citizens live. This area is nearly never visited by tourists, causing them to think that Newport is one of the "rich" areas of Rhode Island, when in reality it is far from it.

Although Newport is thought of by most outsiders as an upper class area, that is not the case. More than half of Newport's district students are eligible for subsidized lunch. Which means that their families incomes are below a certain level of living standards. Also, a good percentage of students in Newport are receiving special education services. In the state, only sixteen percent of students are receiving these services, while eighteen percent in Newport are.

Economic well being plays a big role in affecting the education that the child receives. The economic standing of the family determines the resources that are available to the children and the level of concentration and dedication a student will/can give to schoolwork. For example, if the family cannot afford heat in their home, the temperature inside the house can be a major distraction and children may not be able to get their work done. Another factor is school supplies. If the family can't afford school supplies, how will the child be able to do their homework and get other work done? The amount of children in extreme poverty under age 6 is 413 out of the 7,230 extreme poverty struck children in Rhode Island, which is a lot in a tiny area such as Newport.

Newport is relatively packed in terms of population density per square mile, which is similar to the rest of Rhode Island. JF In these densely packed areas, nearly a third of the children of Newport live under the federal poverty threshold while the ratio of those living under the poverty threshold in Rhode Island is less. This creates a poor scenario where a lot of people are liveing closely together and are not meeting the sufficient means of survival in Newport at the same time. This may be perpetuating the poverty or even other socioeconomic problems, including safety and health. The health and safety numbers show that Newport is not as well off as the rest of Rhode Island. It is quite possible that the poverty level and population density are contributing or perpetuating these conditions.

Health indicators play a huge role in the way a child learns in school and how they grow up. Newport children only add a small amount (1,989) of the population of kids receiving medical assistance in the entire state of Rhode Island (92,701). Being in foster care also makes a huge impact on children. Although only 59 out of the 2,175 students in foster care in Rhode Island are in Newport, those 59 kids may be slightly deprived due to their placement in foster care.

Most of the safety indicators of any given district have to do with violence that is brought upon children in school and at home. The child abuse and neglect rate in Newport is more than double the rate of the entire state of Rhode Island. Although the rate seems higher, the actual number of children being abused in Newport is somewhere between four and five hundred kids out of over 16,000. However, there still exists the four hundred kids that are being physically and emotionally abused, and this could greatly affect their performance in school.

The New England Common Assessment Program is used as a standard test for children throughout New England states such as Rhode Island. Each student is required to begin taking the tests when they reach the third grade and to continue taking them throughout grade school until their eleventh grade year. NECAPs are used to show how the school is improving over time. In the 2010-2011 school year, the NECAP percentages are slightly lower in the district compared to the state. In some subjects, such as writing and science, the NECAP scores drop significantly as students get into the higher grades. The scores for reading stay close to the same percentage. For example, the NECAP scores for math in the third grade come in at 62% proficiency for the state, and 50% proficiency for the district. In the eleventh grade, the math score for the state is only 33% while the district is only 19%.

The Newport school system is doing significantly better than Rhode Island as a whole. All of the schools meet proficiency within Newport, where fifteen percent of the schools throughout the state of Rhode Island are not meeting proficiency. Even two percent more of students are graduating in Newport than within Rhode Island as a whole. Suspension rates are tad-bit higher, which suggests that Newport students are a little more undisciplined than all of Rhode Island together. To conclude, the education in Rhode Island is poorer as a whole than within Newport on its own.