Hope+Arts+High+School

District: Providence, RI
Author: Chloe Blau

**Introduction**
One of the best attributes to living in a major city is having a diverse sense of the arts within the culture. Within the city of Providence, the arts are not only a part of the culture, they are also a part of the educational system. Hope Arts School, which is located in the heart of Providence, is a public high school with currently 600 students enrolled. Because it is a high school, the students range from grades 9-12. Hope Arts is a branch of the larger high school, Hope High School. This report's audience is any individual looking for information on the schools within the Providence school district, specifically Hope Arts High School. For this report, I will be using the following indicators: Demographics, Assessments, Accountability, Teaching Practices, Health, and the Students' Point of View on their own school.

**Demographics:**


Providence, Rhode Island is a very diverse city, and this shows in their various demographics. When it comes to ethnicity, 51.7% of Hope Arts students are Hispanic, 29.8% are African-American, 11.1% of students are Caucasian, 6.3% are Asian, and the remaining 1.1% of students are Native American. The majority of students at Hope Arts, 53.7%, are female and the remaining 46.3% are obviously male. Considering that the area surrounding the school is somewhat poor, 87.2% of the student body receives free and/or reduced priced lunches, and only 12.8% pay the full price. When it comes to students needed special education services, there are only 21.3% of students who need this kind of attention, a relatively good number. The students of Hope Arts High School come from very diverse backgrounds and it's quite evident in their demographics and special needs.

**Assessments:**


A important part of a school's standing and their overall reputation is their ability to perform on standardized testing. Hope Arts High school as a whole could use improvement on its assessments. When it comes to Grade 11 state-wide testing, only 10% of students of the students are proficient in mathematics, 64% proficient with/without distinction in reading, and 25% proficient with/without distinction in writing. In all subjects of the SAT's, Mathematics, Reading, and Writing, Hope Arts is over 100 points below the state average, but a good percentage of the students do take the exam. On the mathematics section of the exam, the school average is a 346, where the state average is a 487. On the reading portion, the student average is a 373, compared to the state average of a 483. On the writing section of the SAT's, Hope Arts average was a score of a 353, which is put against the Rhode Island state average in writing of a 479. Although the scores of Hope Arts students are somewhat low, 48% of the students took the exam, compared to the state average of SAT's takers, which is 57%. 48% is a relatively good number when pinned against the state average. Overall, Hope Arts high school should use this information that is available to them to try and improve their scores for following years.

A lot of the students' ability to perform on these tests has to do with their characteristics. For instance, only 10% of poverty-stricken students were on their way to reaching proficiency in mathematics, and 64% were on their way in reading. No one information was collected for non-impoverished students, which indicates that less than 10 students participated. When it comes to ethnicity, 0% of African-American students were reaching proficiency in math, and 67% were reaching it in reading. 12% of Hispanic students were reaching proficiency in mathematics, and 59% of those students were reaching it in reading. Another influence on the student's performance may be their gender. Males at Hope Arts had 10% reaching proficiency in math and 68% reaching proficiency in reading. Females at Hope Arts, very close to the males, had 11% reaching proficiency in math and 62% reaching proficiency in reading. One of the biggest, if not the most influential, characteristics would be the ability to speak English and having a disability. Only 9% of students with disabilities were reaching proficiency in math, and 45% were reaching in reading. On the other hand, 11% of students without a disability were reaching proficient in math, and 68% were reaching in reading. When it comes to language barriers, 10% of Non-English language learners were proficient or reaching proficiency in math and 65% of those students were proficient or reaching proficiency in reading. Overall, the different characteristics of students has a huge impact on their school and testing performance.

**Accountability:**


A huge part of a school's overall being is the job it does to meet and exceed certain standards. Every school has a target for various things that they'd like to accomplish, such as particular score levels, participation rates and graduation rates. Certain targets and standards are set for a school, and that school gets credit for meeting/exceeding their target. When it comes to state testing at Hope Arts, their Mathematics target is 63.2% and their English-Language Arts target is 75%. Overall, the students didn't meet their target, scoring 47.2% on math and 71.9% on ELA. The Asian student population only have scores for their ELA test, and scored 67.0%. Also, the economically disadvantaged students scored a 48.7% on mathematics, and 73.4% on ELA. No other information is represented on the charts.

Although the scores were not close enough to the targets, the participation rates and graduation rates were very good. The only scores to exceed their targets were the participation rates. For both Mathematics and ELA, the target is 95%, and both exceeded and hit 97.7%, which is great. As for graduation rate, the state rate of graduation is 79.2% of students, and Hope Arts came close at 76.5% of students graduating. Overall, Hope Arts is either meeting or working their way towards meeting and exceeding their state standards.

**Teaching Practices:**


One of the most imperative things to look for in a school is the student-teacher interaction, and how that interaction impacts the student performance. In Hope Arts, it seems that the students have a mixed level of interaction with their teachers, and this not only impact their performance, but it encourages them to be more involved and help their fellow classmates. For example, only 23% of teachers say that they examine their students' work to guide instruction. Although this percentage could be improved, 75% of Hope students receive teacher instruction in writing skills. 59% of students say that the material they are instructed relates to their interests. Considering that most students are not enthusiastic about going to school in general, this seems to be a pretty good percentage. On the other hand, only 36% of students revise their papers, which is something that all students should be doing in order to learn new skills and improve their writing abilities. When it comes to student on student interaction, 27% of students say that they provide helpful feedback to their classmates, which is a good thing no matter what the numbers are. Finally, 63% of Hope Arts students say that they are taught problem solving and decision making, which is a good amount of students. Overall, the students of Hope Arts High School have both good and bad results when it comes to teacher interaction and influence, but they seem to be making improvements to increase these numbers.

**Health:**
The health of the students is one of the most important things in a school, and it's good to make sure that the environment that the students are in are healthy as well. At Hope Arts, there is a somewhat low percent of students who are involved with risky behaviors and attitudes. When it comes to smoking at least once a day, about 18% of HA students admitted to it. When it comes to chewing tobacco, about 15% of students admitted to using it. 21% of students at Hope Arts said that they've used illegal drugs, and about 30% said that they've drank at least once in the span of a month. Not all students use these products, but a higher percentage of students admit to their friends approving these products. About 30% of students say their friends would approve if they smoked marijuana regularly, and the same amount of students said their friends would be alright with it if they had more then five alcoholic drinks once of twice every weekend. The students at Hope Arts seem to somewhat get involved in risky behaviors.

Another part of a student's health is their interaction with technology, diet, sleeping pattern, and self-image. 35% of Hope Arts students said that they've had problems with acne or weight issues, being either overweight or underweight 70% of students, a surprisingly large amount of students, admitted to getting seven or less hours of sleep a night, where the average a teenager should get is eight or more. When it comes to diet, 35% admitted to not having fruits or vegetables within the past day and 50% of students said they eat breakfast, the most important meal of the day, two or less days of the week. One of the biggest obstacles for students nowadays is focusing due to distractions from technology. 50% of Hope Arts High School said they watch television for two or more hours a day, a pretty unhealthy amount. Around 38% also said that they IM (Instant Message), check their e-mail, or talk in chat rooms for two or more hours a day as well. Overall, the health of the Hope Arts High School students could be improved by engaging in less risky behaviors, eating healthier, getting more sleep, and spending more time away from technology.

Student View of their School:


In my opinion, the most important way to show a school's success is by getting the students opinion. No one knows a school better than the students that attend that school. Their opinions about their comfort level and relationship with staff are very important. When it comes to comfort levels, 38% of students felt comfortable discussing academic issues with a teacher or other staff members, and 21% felt comfortable enough to talk about family or personal issues. On the flip side though, something should be altered if students do not feel comfortable in their academic environment. When questioned, 19% admitted to being robbed once or more at school, 12% admitted that teasing is a big hassle for them, and 13% admitted that someone in their school attempted to sell them drugs once or more. Based on this information, Hope Arts needs to provide a more comforting environment for their students, and perhaps it will have an influence on other aspects of their school life.

Conclusion:
Overall, Hope Arts High School in Providence, Rhode Island is a complex and interesting school. The various measures of their success and faults are listed above: Demographics, Assessments, Accountability, Health, and student Point of View. Hope Arts, as shown by their demographics, is a diverse school, having students of all races, classes, and abilities. The students could use some improvement on their state-wide assessments and their accountability in order to improve their standings against other schools in the state. The health of the students and their view of their own education and experience could also use improvements. This report contains information that is important for people to know because it shows truly how Hope Arts High School is performing overall as well as in many different aspects. The information is relevant to those students who are thinking of attending and parents who are thinking of sending their children to Hope Arts. If the principal and other authority figures of the school examine the material provided about their performance and overall community and use this information to make improvements, Hope Arts has the potential to become a very positive and influential school in the state of Rhode Island.