North Kingstown reports mixed results on 2025 state assessments; district plans targeted interventions

North Kingstown School District administrators presented 2025 results from state assessments for math (RICAS), English language arts (ELA) and the NGSA science test during the school committee business meeting on Oct. 21.

The district’s director of curriculum, Jody Clark, told the committee that overall district math scores declined compared with 2024 but that some buildings and grade cohorts showed growth. Clark highlighted Hamilton Elementary and Fishing Cove Elementary as examples of schools with year‑over‑year increases in math performance and said the district will study released items to identify specific gaps. She also noted a concerning drop for a fifth‑grade cohort and said teachers will analyze released math tasks to see which scoring points students missed.

Rob Mazzonati, who presented ELA findings alongside Clark, said districtwide ELA proficiency rose 4.8 percentage points to 56.1 percent, moving North Kingstown to ninth place in the state overall and sixth among K–12 districts of similar size. Mazzonati pointed to targeted work on on‑demand writing for grades 2–8 and said the district is seeing gains in multiple elementary and middle‑school cohorts.

On science, Clark said the district saw a 2.3 percent decline overall; she noted that the NGSA science test is administered in grades 5, 8 and 11 only, which limits year‑to‑year cohort comparisons. Clark said a number of buildings achieved scores higher than pre‑COVID levels on science but that districtwide growth is still needed.

Committee members pressed administrators for next steps. School Committee member Jen asked whether district staff could compare practices with neighboring Portsmouth, which posted large math gains, and requested follow‑up analysis before the budget season. Clark and Mazzonati said released item review and teacher data meetings would be used to identify instructional actions and that the district is scheduling follow‑up reporting.

Administrators also described ongoing supports: use of the Branching Minds MTSS platform for intervention planning, elementary-level WIN (What I Need) intervention blocks, increased tier‑2 and tier‑3 supports for reading and math, vertical articulation between fifth‑ and sixth‑grade teachers, building thinking classroom professional development for math, and expansion of the OpenSci (OpenSci/OpenSci-like) curriculum pilot at grade 5 and the high school.

The committee requested a follow‑up briefing on item‑level math analysis and district subgroup performance before the budget cycle; the superintendent and curriculum office agreed to return with additional detail.

Ending: The presentation framed the district’s next steps as deeper item‑level analysis and staged instructional supports; administrators said they would return with more detailed findings and recommendations ahead of budget deliberations.