Cranston+District+Report

Cranston, the third largest city in Rhode Island (behind Providence and Warwick) is composed of a total population of approximately eighty thousand individuals. The city is home to twenty five public schools, and spans an area served by five zip codes. There are significant differences among the more urban east and more suburban  west sides of the city. This report takes a look at the Cranston School District as a whole, providing information regarding the district's demographics, performance, funding, expenditures, assessment, and accountability of the public schools.   ** Demographics ** Cranston is a diverse city in the center of Rhode Island; it features people of many different ethnic backgrounds and abilities. The ethnic make-up of Cranston is 77% white, 12% Hispanic, 7% Asian, and 4% African American. For Rhode Island as whole however, the make-up is 69.4% white, 18% Hispanic, 8.8% African American, 3.1% Asian, and .7% Native American. In Cranston 83.5% of students attend public schools, while only 1.5% are enrolled in public charter schools. The demographics for the entire state of Rhode Island are quite similar with 84.4% in public schools, 1.6% attending public charter, and .5% home schooled. The data shows that fewer students in Cranston are in public school in comparison to the state as a whole. Additionally, 78% of students are eligible for subsidized-lunch programs in Cranston, while only 67% are in the state. However, more Cranston students are eligible for subsidized-lunch program than the state average. 95% of students in Cranston do not participate in their schools' ESL programs or bilingual services, only 5% do participant in ESL. 3.8% of Rhode Island students participate in their schools' ESL program and 1.3% are bilingual, leaving 94.9% not involved in either. The data shows that the majority of Cranston students are Caucasian and do not participate in Cranston’s ESL or bilingual programs. U.S. Census Bureau, “Fact Sheet for Cranston, 02920,” 2000, http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/SAFFFacts?_event=Search&geo_id=86000US02907&_geoContext=01000US%7C86000US02907&_street=&_county=&_cityTown=&_state=&_zip=02920&_lang=

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 * 1) ## U.S. Census Bureau, “Fact Sheet for the State of Rhode Island,” [].
 * 1) U.S. C
 * 2) U.S. Census Bureau, “Fact Sheet for Cranston, 02907,” 2000, [].
 * 3) ensus Bureau, “Fact Sheet for Cranston, 02921,” 2000, [].

In Cranston, 18% of students receive special education services, 6% are self-contained, 12% are general education with supports, and .1% are homebound or hospitalized. 81.5% of Rhode Island on average do not receive special education services while 5.9% are self-contained, 12.6% receive general education with supports, and .1% are homebound or hospitalized. A higher percentage of Cranston students receive self-contained special education services while less Cranston students receive general supports special education services than the Rhode Island average. Overall, Cranston students are white, mono-lingual students with many eligible for subsidized-lunch programs and the majority in the public school system.

** Performance ** All schools in Rhode Island are required to make "Adequate Yearly Progress" or AYP. This means that each school must meet (or significantly get closer to) a certain set of standards for test scores and other factors. In the Cranston district, 83% of the schools made AYP in 2008, 4% got cautioned, and 13% did not make AYP. Compared with similar students statewide, the Cranston elementary schools' proficiency levels seem to be above average, the middle schools are just about average, and high schools are below the averages of similar students. In fact, none of the three high schools in the district are above standards for math, reading, or writing. 

Funding
The majority of funding in Cranston comes from local taxes. It is above the average local funding in Rhode Island, with the average of 55% ($1.1B) of school funding local whereas Cranston is 67% ($87.5M) locally funded. The state is responsible for funding 27% ($36.7M) for Cranston, and on average funds 37% ($749.8M) for the state as a whole. Finally, Cranston is funded 6% ($8.2M) federally and the state is funded 7% ($145.6M) federally.

 **Expenditures ** Average** ||
 * **Indicator** || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; text-align: center;">**Your district** || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; text-align: center;">**Rhode Island
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; text-align: center;">Total || <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">$12,426 || <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">$12,700 ||
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; text-align: center;">Instruction || <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">$7,698 || <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">50% of $14,119 ||
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; text-align: center;">Instructional support || <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">$1,795 || <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">16% of $14,119 ||
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; text-align: center;">Operations || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> $2,135 || <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">14% $14,119 ||
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; text-align: center;">Leadership || <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">$798 || <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">6% of $14,119 ||
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; text-align: center;">Other Commitments || <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">$837 || <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">14% of $14,119 ||
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; text-align: center;">General Education || <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">$9,347 || <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">$9,220 ||
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; text-align: center;">Title I || <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">$172 || <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">$536 ||
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; text-align: center;">Special Education || <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">$15,400 || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> $16,382 ||
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; text-align: center;">Career and Technical Education || <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">$3,924 || <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">$4,249 ||
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; text-align: center;">English Language Learners || <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">$11,250 || <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">$$7,931 ||

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;"> As a total per <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">-pupil expenditures Cranston is about $300 less than the state of Rhode Island. In the category of instruction The state of Rhode Island and Cranston are about the same spending a little over $7,000 per pupil. In the four categories of <span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Instructional support, Operations, Leadership, and Other Commitments the State of Rhode Island and Cranston are also very close in the amount spent per pupil. With General education Cranston spends more than the state with $9,347 to $9,220. Special Education and Title I are both lower for Cranston compared to the state with Special education at $15,400 to $16,382 and Title I at $172 to $536. Career and Technical Education per pupil is $3,924 for Cranston verse $4,249 for the state. For the English Language learners Cranston spends $11,250 and the State only at $7,931. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 108%;">**Assessment** <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 81%;">Generally the percentage of students receiving a proficient in the elementary schools and middle schools in Cranston (grades 3-8) outweigh the percentage of students who are not. However, in many areas there are still a great number of children who are not proficient. For example, in fifth grade there are 64% of students who are proficient in mathematics. Yes, this is the majority of students, however, 36% of children are not proficient. This is really a large amount of kids who have not reached proficiency. The percent of students proficient in mathematics tended to be significantly lower than the percentage of students proficient in reading in grades 3-8. Overall, the majority of students in grade 3-8 have demonstrated proficiency.

The NECAP test scores for proficiency differ between the two public high schools in Cranston: Cranston East and Cranston West. Cranston West's percentage of proficient students is very similar to that of Rhode Island's; in fact, the percentages between the two are almost identical. Cranston West's percentage of proficient students in mathematics, reading, and verbal are 23%, 64%, 33% respectively, whereas Rhode Island's percantages are 22%, 62%, and 37%. Cranston East's percentage of proficient students is at least 10% lower than Cranston West's in every section of the NECAP test.

Cranston students' SAT scores are on par with the average scores of Rhode Island. In mathematics, for example, the average score in Cranston is 494, where Rhode Island's is 489. In fact, the average scores in Cranston are a few points higher than Rhode Island's average. In Cranston only 53% of students take the SAT exam, compared to the 59% in Rhode Island. Overall, Cranston's assessment scores are comparable to those of Rhode Island. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 117%;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">

After researching the accountability within Cranston, it seems that students of all different races, such as African American, Asian, White, and Hispanic, are relatively proficient in both mathematics and English. All races/ethnicities met the standard in elementary math and English; the only two demographics that missed the target were students with disabilities and the ESL students. Every race in middle school met both the standards for math and english. Again, students with disabilities did not hit the target, but in this case only in regards to English.
 * Accountability **

There seemed to be a bit more discrepancy with meeting the standards in high school, especially in math. The only groups that met both standards completely included the Asian and Caucasian students (71.8 in math and 83.3 in English for Asian students and 73.8 in math and 86.7 in English for Caucasian students), as well as the total student average. African Americans, Hispanic, Students with disabilities, and economically disadvantaged succeeded in the English language (84.9, 79.5, 70.8, 78.9 respectively in relation to the 54.0 standard), but did not meet the state target in mathematics (61.3, 59.6, 50.7, 61.0 respectively). This displays the fact that the proficiency levels seemed to decrease in high school. This could possibly be due to the increased level of difficulty of classes or students inability to put enough effort into their school work to succeed. Additionally, the graduation rate was respectable, as only 7.3% did not graduate while 92.7% did. The graduation rates exceeded the state standard (75.3%) by 17.4% (92.7%-75.3%). Therefore, the region of Cranston seems to be very academically focused; a diverse and thriving community, accountable for a large portion of Rhode Island's success rate.<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;"> **Conclusion** Overall, the school district of Cranston does a great job of educating its large population of racially and economically diverse individuals. There is definitely a great racial and economic divide between the east and west sides of the city, but Cranston schools provide students with educations that are similar to the state. By looking at the assessment and accountability portions of this report, it is evident that the public school system is teaching students the thinking tools that are so crucial for success. After looking at the demographics, performance, funding, expenditures, assessment, and accountability of the district, an accurate portrayal of the district has highlighted the similarities and differences among the west and east sides of Cranston.