Expanding Year-Round Out-Of-School Learning Opportunities

• Released 2025 state assessment results showing continued academic gains for students statewide. Student RICAS math proficiency continued to exceed pre-pandemic levels, rising 1.3 percentage points from 2024. English Language Arts (ELA) RICAS proficiency increased by 2.9 percentage points, continuing a positive trend and approaching pre-pandemic levels. SAT proficiency in ELA increased significantly by 3.8 percentage points from 47.8 percent to 51.6 percent, and steadily in math with a 1.6 percentage point increase. SAT ELA proficiency levels have rebounded above pre-pandemic levels.
• Continued to shrink the RICAS/MCAS performance gap with Massachusetts. Statewide math proficiency rose to 31.4 percent in 2025, up 1.3 percentage points from 2024 and exceeding pre-pandemic levels (29.8 percent in 2018–2019).  ELA proficiency increased to 33.7 percent in 2025, a 2.9-point gain from 2024, continuing a positive upward trend and rebounding to pre-pandemic levels when compared to 2017–2018 results.
• Published the 2025 school accountability ratings showing continued progress with nearly 60 percent of schools earning three stars or higher and 37 schools increasing their rating compared to 2024.
• Directed $81.7 million in federal funding to launch a statewide network of Community Learning Centers—an initiative of Governor Dan McKee—to deliver integrated education, workforce development, and health monitoring services in 18 communities. As of January 2026, all 21 projects have broken ground and/or begun construction. Construction of all the Community Learning Centers are scheduled for completion by October 2026 with programming active by the end of 2026.

• Continued the Learn365RI initiative to expand learning opportunities beyond the traditional 180-day school year and add 1 million hours of learning time across Rhode Island. Through this initiative, state, municipal, school, business, and community leaders are working toward three main goals: (1) improving English Language Arts (ELA) and math RICAS scores, (2) increasing FAFSA completion rates, and (3) reducing chronic absenteeism. Learn365RI programs have included school vacation learning camps, after-school tutoring programs, and attendance incentives— all in support of Governor McKee’s goal: “In every home, every day, learning matters.”
  • Launched the Math Matters RI campaign in 2025 to celebrate and elevate the importance of mathematics and boost math proficiency statewide. Close to 1,000 students, parents, and educators participated in the “Math Extravaganza: Math Matters RI” kickoff event held last Spring. As part of the initiative, 37 municipalities have received $3.7 million in Learn365RI grants to expand access to math-focused programming both in and out of the classroom— funding dozens of math-focused programs for thousands of students in kindergarten through ninth grade.
  • Continued to provide school support through Learn365RI Municipal Compacts with 38 out of 39 Rhode Island communities committed to expanding high-quality, year-round learning for students. The State has awarded nearly $12.3 million to local education agencies through four rounds of Advancing Learning Beyond the 180-Day School Year grants to support these endeavors.

• Continued leading efforts to improve attendance and boost academic achievement with the nationally recognized, data-driven Attendance Matters RI statewide strategy. The State launched the Attendance Matters RI campaign for school year 2025-2026 alongside new dashboards and data tools, including a first-of-its-kind calendar heat map and the Attendance and Academic Achievement Guidance prioritizing early identification, engagement, and targeted student supports.
  • Achieved a third consecutive year of decreased chronic absenteeism, with statewide rates declining approximately 2.6 percentage points from 24.7 percent in 2023–2024 to 22.1 percent in 2024–2025.
  • Maintained a 10-year high in on-time graduation. The 2023–24 cohort data showed an 84.1 percent four-year high-school graduation rate — the highest rate in a decade.
  • Recorded 142,360 fewer absences year-over-year and a cumulative 12-percentage-point reduction since the 2021–2022 peak of 34.1 percent.
  • Recovered an estimated 3.7 million learning hours statewide through sustained reductions in chronic absenteeism.
  • Released the Attendance and Academic Achievement Guidance, developed in partnership with the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Brown University, and Rhode Island’s Chronic Absenteeism Working Group, to support Local Education Agencies in improving outcomes for chronically absent students who are not meeting math and ELA proficiency.
  • Established a structured intervention framework aligned with the Multi‑Tiered System of Supports, strengthening early identification and targeted supports at the elementary and middle school levels.
• Expanded access to college-level coursework through the Advanced Placement (AP) Program, celebrating statewide success in math-focused AP courses under the Math Matters RI initiative. Nearly 40 percent of Rhode Island public-school graduates now take at least one AP exam, and 3,987 students took AP exams at no cost during the 2024–2025 school year through state investment.  Over the last decade, Rhode Island achieved the fourth largest growth in the percentage of graduates taking an AP Exam during high school.
• Launched a new partnership with New Classrooms Innovation Partners, Inc. to integrate personalized, competency-based learning into the state’s math strategy. Funded by a grant from the Bezos Family Foundation, the partnership brings an innovative approach to education to approximately 50,000 students from fourth grade math through Algebra I across the state over the next three years.   
• Continued to position Rhode Island as one of the top completers of the FAFSA of the application, ranking 11th in submissions per the United States Department of Education and 10th in completions per the National College Attainment Network in 2025.