2025 RI State Education Assessment Results Show Continued Increases in Math and ELA and Decrease in Student Chronic Absenteeism Statewide

2025 RI State Education Assessment Results Show Continued Increases in Math and ELA and Decrease in Student Chronic Absenteeism Statewide

Published on Thursday, October 02, 2025

Latest results reveal Rhode Island continues to close academic achievement gap with Massachusetts

PROVIDENCE, RI - The Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) today released the final results of the 2025 state assessments including the Rhode Island Comprehensive Assessment System (RICAS). RICAS statewide data shows that the state has had another year of academic achievement gains for students and a decrease in chronic absenteeism in the Ocean State. RICAS is an annual assessment taken by Rhode Island students in grades 3-8 in English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics. It is the same assessment as the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) for ELA and mathematics.

Student RICAS math proficiency continues to exceed pre-pandemic levels, rising 1.3 percentage points from 30.1% in 2024 to 31.4% in 2025, up from 29.8% in 2018-19.

ELA proficiency increased 2.9% from 30.8% in 2024 to 33.7% in 2025, continuing a positive trend and approaching the pre-pandemic level of 38.5% in 2018-19. When compared to 2017-2018 data, ELA has rebounded to the pre-pandemic level of 33.7%.

31 Local Education Agencies (LEAs) have either returned or are above pre-pandemic levels of achievement in RICAS math and 9 in ELA. 9 LEAs have returned or are above pre-pandemic levels in both areas. A presentation of the full student assessment results is availableon RIDE's website.

"By supporting high-quality learning opportunities both in and out of the classroom, my Administration has made education a top priority and we're seeing real results," said Governor Dan McKee. "When I challenged RIDE to help Rhode Island meet or exceed Massachusetts student achievement levels by 2030, many thought that goal was ambitious. But now we're making measurable progress, and we're not letting up. Together we will continue reinforcing that in every home, every day, learning matters."

"Rhode Island students have experienced consistent academic growth over the past three years due to the hard work of our educators, families, and partners," said Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green. "We are seeing real momentum in our classrooms, and we're especially proud that results for most student groups, regardless of background, showed growth this year. RIDE has prioritized strengthening our supports for students and teachers alike and promoting excellence in teaching and learning. We know that there is more to do. Our state has momentum and our progress will continue."

According to the latest student assessment data, most student subgroups, including multilingual learners, differently-abled, economically disadvantaged, and students who recently exited from MLL services, demonstrated academic improvement over the past year. The latest results affirm continued progress for student achievement in the Ocean State. The Education Recovery Scorecard, released in February 2025, reported that Rhode Island is leading academic recovery in New England and nationally it is ranked 14^th in math recovery and 13^th in reading.

In the U.S., Massachusetts consistently ranks at or near the top for public education. When comparing Rhode Island 2025 RICAS results to 2025 Massachusetts MCAS scores, which were released earlier this week, scores show Rhode Island students continue to close the gap with Massachusetts students in both ELA and math.

The most notable advancement for Rhode Island students was in math, where the gap between Rhode Island and Massachusetts continued to close by 1.5 percentage points, due to Rhode Island's improvement. In ELA, the assessment gap decreased by 0.6 percentage points, as both Rhode Island and Massachusetts saw gains. The current gap stands at 9.3% in math and 8% in ELA.

With this year's progress, Rhode Island has now closed 50% of the academic achievement gap in both math and ELA since 2018. Additionally, Rhode Island's percentile ranking, if treated as a local education agency in Massachusetts, has risen from the 10^th percentile in 2018 to the 30^th percentile in 2025, in both ELA and math.

In addition to 2025 RICAS scores, 2025 PSAT and SAT, Rhode Island Next Generation Science Assessment (NGSA), Dynamic Learning Maps (DLM), and the Rhode Island Assessing Comprehension and Communications in English State-to-State for English Language Learners (ACCESS) assessment results can now be viewed online on RIDE's Assessment Data Portal.

Attendance

Rhode Island has become a national and international leader in decreasing chronic absenteeism successfully decreasing it statewide by 12 percentage pointssince levels peaked nationally. The latest state data underscores that missing too much school has a clear negative effect on student achievement across multiple assessments. RIDE continues to champion the Attendance Matters RI campaign, emphasizing the critical role regular attendance plays in academic success. On average, chronically absent students score lower than their regularly attending peers by the following percentage points (%pt):

• RICAS ELA: 18.5 %pt
• RICAS Math: 21.0 %pt
• PSAT ELA: 23.9 %pt
• PSAT Math: 21.0 %pt
• SAT ELA: 23.4 %pt
• SAT Math: 18.6 %pt

SAT/PSAT

The SAT is administered in English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics to all 11th-grade students, and the PSAT is administered in the same content areas to all 10th-grade students. The 2025 results show that compared to 2024, SAT proficiency in ELA increased significantly by 3.8 percentage points from 47.8% to 51.6%, and steadily in math with a 1.6 percentage point increase, from 21.7% to 23.3%. SAT ELA proficiency levels have rebounded above pre-pandemic levels. PSAT statewide results show proficiency increased in 2025 in math by approximately 2 percentage points and decreased by 3.9 percentage points in ELA compared to 2024.

NGSA

The Next Generation Science Assessments (NGSA) is administered in grades 5, 8, and 11. NGSA proficiency scores indicate they stayed relatively the same with a 0.4 percentage point decrease in students meeting or exceeding expectations, from 31.2% to 30.8%.

DLM

The DLM assessments are designed for students with significant special education needs and are administered in grades 3 through 8 and 11 in ELA, math, and science. The 2025 results show that achievement levels in ELA decreased by nearly 7 percentage points, a decrease of 1.5 percentage points in math, and a decrease of 3 percentage points in science. Nearly 1 in 5 Rhode Island students, or 18%, are differently-abled, representing a nearly 20% increase over the last five years and the 10th highest percentage of differently-abled students (DAS) among the 50 states and Washington, D.C. DAS performance over the years has fluctuated on state assessments. To better support DAS students, RIDE is investing in the implementation of the Foundations of Math Framework, structured literacy training, and the expansion of access to high-quality curriculum materials (HQCM)​. RIDE will also be launching the Blueprint for Success for Differently Abled Students this fall to support strategic improvement.

ACCESS

The ACCESS assessment is administered to multilingual learners (MLLs) to examine their English language proficiency (ELP) on a scale of 1 to 6, with 6 being the highest, in four language domains: listening, reading, speaking, and writing. Students with a composite score of 4.8 or higher are considered ready to exit MLL services. ACCESS is developed by the WIDA Consortium, which provides standardized MLL assessments to 41 states and territories. There was a 1 percentage point increase in students scoring at the "Expanding" and "Bridging" levels, from 20.8% in 2024 to 21.8% in 2025. The percentage of students Expanding and Bridging levels surpassed pre-pandemic levels accounting for an increase of 5.2% since 2020-21.​

5-5-5 Club

Five schools across the state earned recognition for the "5-5-5 Club" cutting chronic absenteeism by at least 5 percentage points and improving academic performance in both ELA and math by at least 5 percentage points. This included:

Elementary and Middle Schools

• Excel Academy
• Gaudet Learning Academy

High Schools:

• Beacon Charter Schools
• Blackstone Valley Prep High School
• South Kingstown High School

RIDE will continue to focus on three strategic priorities including mental health supports, reducing chronic absenteeism, and strengthening instruction. This includes expanding access to virtual mental health services through Hazel Health, launching new attendance dashboards, and partnering with the College Board to provide Khan Academy District tools to all high schools.

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