PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island officials launched the statewide Math Matters RI campaign this week, announcing the latest round of Learn365RI grants including funding for schools in Burrillville, North Smithfield and Glocester.
The awards will provide 38 communities with $2,125,000 in grant funding aimed at improving math skills and an additional $725,000 has been set-aside for statewide intervention and support.
“In every home, every day, learning matters and we are launching our statewide Math Matters RI campaign to place an extra emphasis on math instruction and learning,” said Gov. Dan McKee. “We’re underscoring that math is important for the future success of students and state with an investment of $2.85 million in Learn365RI funding that will support out-of-school math-focused programming statewide. Our intention is to build on the success of our nationally recognized Attendance Matters RI campaign and continue our work to improve academic achievement across the Ocean State.”
Funding will support out-of-school time learning programs with an explicit focus on math programs for students currently enrolled in kindergarten through grade 8. According to a release on the awards, the program’s grant recipients may offer April break math camps, intensive afterschool and/or weekend math programming, and/or a four or more-week summer program.
The largest of the math-focused grants of $200,00 was awarded to the city of Providence, while Burrillville received a mid-level grant of $55,000. The towns of North Smithfield and Glocester each received $40,000.
State leaders emphasized the need to focus on improving math instruction and learning, citing positive trends in math RICAS results that have rebounded past pre-pandemic levels of achievement with 30.1 percent of students meeting or exceeding expectations in 2023-2024 results compared to 29.8 percent in 2018-2019. However, math SAT results remain below pre-pandemic levels, with 21.7 percent of secondary students meeting and exceeding expectations compared to 31.2 percent in 2018-2019. At the national level, NAEP, known as the “Nation’s Report Card,” underscored a need to focus on math with 2024 national math scores declining by 5 percentage points in grade 4 and 8 percentage points in grade 8 compared to 2019.
“While some of our students are seeing positive momentum in math and have rebounded past pre-pandemic levels of achievement, we have to double down on our efforts to promote math to help all students get back on track,” said Rhode Island Department of Education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green. “RIDE is working diligently to expand access to high-quality math instruction for students and math-focused professional learning for teachers, and we know that the funds made available to communities through the Governor’s Learn365RI initiative will complement and strengthen our efforts to improve math understanding and skills. RIDE is excited to kick off the Math Matters RI campaign alongside math teachers, coaches, champions, and representatives from cities and towns throughout Rhode Island.”
Funding totaling $500,000 will help provide math-focused and enrichment courses through EnrollRI.org. The All Course Network, accessible through EnrollRI, helps students get a head start on postsecondary success. ACN courses offer students the opportunity to earn both high school and college credit, offsetting the cost of college tuition.
A release on the grants noted that the new campaign is in alignment with McKee’s goal to meet or beat Massachusetts’ achievement levels by 2030 by improving school attendance, boosting FAFSA completion rates, and improving RICAS English Language Arts (ELA) and math scores. In hopes to promote greater outcomes, state leaders have made a series of investments to support students and teachers. Last year, the state announced the investment of $5 million in funding for instructional coaching in mathematics and ELA for more than 20 schools and districts across the state, with $4 million going towards staffing and the remaining $1 million going toward accompanying professional development.
Additional school districts to receive funding included:
- City of Pawtucket:$145,000
- City of Cranston: $125,000
- City of Warwick: $80,000
- City of Woonsocket: $100,000
- Town of Cumberland: $70,000
- City of East Providence: $70,000
- City of Central Falls: $75,000
- Town of Coventry: $55,000
- Town of North Providence: $55,000
- Town of North Kingstown: $55,000
- Town of West Warwick: $55,000
- Town of Lincoln: $55,000
- Town of Barrington: $55,000
- Town of East Greenwich: $55,000
- Town of South Kingstown: $55,000
- Town of Smithfield: $55,000
- Town of Westerly: $55,000
- Town of Town of Portsmouth: $55,000
- Town of Middletown: $55,000
- City of Newport: $75,000
- Town of Bristol: $40,000
- Town of Town of Tiverton: $40,000
- Town of Town of Scituate: $40,000
- Town of Hopkinton: $40,000
- Town of Richmond: $40,000
- Town of Warren: $40,000
- Town of Narragansett: $20,000
- Town of West Greenwich: $20,000
- Town of Exeter: $20,000
- Town of Charlestown: $20,000
- Town of Jamestown: $20,000
- Town of Foster: $20,000
- Town of Little Compton: $15,000
- Town of New Shoreham: $15,000
