North Providence reports gains on 2023–24 state assessments; attendance and special-education supports highlighted

Superintendent Gojo told the North Providence School Committee that the district’s 2023–24 state assessment results (referred to in the meeting as “Bridal” results) show areas of improvement, including higher staff attendance, lower suspension rates and increased student participation on state tests.

The presentation, delivered by Assistant Superintendent Seitzinger and Director of Student Services Van Avery, outlined district-level proficiency and subgroup trends and described curriculum and intervention work the district is using to sustain gains.

District highlights presented to the committee included: district ELA proficiency of 32% and math proficiency of 22%; high participation rates on state tests (above 90% at each school); an increase in high school SAT reading/writing from 57% to 63.1%; and a reported increase in SAT math measures (district figure cited as 29.4% with a year-over-year uptick of 7.4% in one presented metric). The high school’s math proficiency was described as above the state average in the presentation materials.

Assistant Superintendent Seitzinger said the district is “moving in a positive direction overall” and credited curriculum teams, principals and instructional strategies such as learning walks, interim assessments and targeted interventions (ALEKS, Khan Academy pilots, i-Ready diagnostics) for helping produce gains. Seitzinger noted the district has been implementing new curriculum and that multi-year trend analysis (three-to-five year windows) is a priority when interpreting year-to-year changes.

Director of Student Services Van Avery acknowledged that special-education scores remain a concern. Van Avery said, “I wish our scores were better than what they are,” but added that the rankings do not reflect extensive work by administrative teams, special-education staff and classroom teachers. Van Avery and Seitzinger said four schools previously identified for intensive special-education support (ATSI status) have moved out of that category since last year.

The presentation also addressed multilingual learners (MLL). Enrollment for MLL students was reported to have increased from about 308 in 2022 to 398 in 2023 and roughly 416 in 2024; the district reported gains in the “bridging” proficiency category and said the number of students exiting language-support services rose from 11 (in an earlier year) to 29 active exits in 2024.

Committee member Picard asked for a future agenda item on chronic absenteeism, citing elementary and high-school rates discussed in the meeting (the presentation noted gains but Picard referenced the high school at about 28.3% chronic absenteeism and some elementary schools in the mid-teens). Seitzinger and Van Avery said the district is using MTSS (multi-tiered system of supports), social-emotional learning (RULER), family engagement, summer and in-school intervention programs and expanded coaching to address attendance and achievement gaps.

Superintendent Gojo and staff emphasized that many of the initiatives (co-teaching, differentiated instruction, expanded phonics foundations K–2, expanded coaching and the MTSS needs assessment) are intended to produce sustained, multi-year improvements rather than single-year gains.

The committee did not vote on the presentation itself but thanked staff and requested follow-up information on chronic absenteeism and the district’s mental-health interventions.

Looking ahead, staff said they will continue district-level data reviews and provide more detailed chronic-absenteeism analysis at a future committee meeting.