By JOSEPH FITZGERALD

PROVIDENCE — Even though the results didn’t come as a complete surprise, Gov. Donald Carcieri and state education officials couldn’t mask their disappointment over the troubling news that only 22 percent of the state’s 11th graders are proficient in mathematics, according to 2007-2008 New England Common Assessment  Program (NECAP) test results released Wednesday.

While the results showed 61 percent of the state’s high school juniors proficient in reading and 37 percent  proficient in writing — both consistent with previous high school test results — it was the dismal results in mathematics that had Carcieri, Education Commissioner Peter McWalters and other high-ranking education officials sounding the alarm and a call to action at a State House press conference yesterday.
“The mathematics results are troubling to all of us,” said Robert G. Flanders, chairman of the Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education. “They tell me that something is significantly wrong about mathematics education. And it’s not just a Rhode Island problem. We expect our students to reach high standards in mathematics. Therefore, we must ensure that all of our students have access to the right math courses and to highly qualified math instructors.”
Woonsocket, Cumberland, Pawtucket, Lincoln and Central Falls all mirrored the state trend, where only a small percentage of juniors tested at or above proficient in mathematics, according to the test results.
At Woonsocket High School, only 50, or 11.29 percent, of the 443 students tested scored proficient in mathematics. At the Beacon Charter School in Woonsocket, 2, or 9.52 percent, of the 21 students tested, were at or above proficient.
At Cumberland High School, 74, or 20.50 percent, of 361 students tested, scored proficient.
At the William E. Tolman Senior High School in Pawtucket, 44, or 15.38 percent, of the 286 students tested, were at or above proficient. At Pawtucket’s Charles E. Shea Senior High School, 17, or 7.26 percent, of the 234 students tested scored proficient.
At Lincoln Senior High School, 98, or 34.88 percent, of  281 students tested were at or above proficient.
At the William M. Davies Jr. Career-Technical School in Lincoln, 11, or 6.67 percent, of the 165 students tested, were at or above proficient.
And in Central Falls, only 5, or 2.9 percent, of 179 students tested, scored proficient.
The schools did much better across the board in reading and fairly well — with some slippage — in writing with proficiency levels that mirrored the state trend. In Woonsocket, for example, 226, or 51.25 percent, of the 441 students tested in reading were at or above proficient. Of the 439 students at the school tested in writing, 95, or 21.64 percent, tested at or above proficient.
NECAP partners Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Vermont in response to the national No Child Left Behind Act. The act mandates all states measure academic achievement in reading and arithmetic in Grades 3-8 and 11 and writing in Grades 5, 8 and 11 annually. The tests were adminsistered in all three states in October, and marked the first time the NECAP tests were administered to high-school students. Results from the tests administered in Grades 3-8 were released earlier this month.
Test results in Grades 3-8 showed across-the board-improvement over three years in both reading and mathematics. The high school results in reading and writing were consistent with the results in Grades 3-8 and with previous high school test results. The high school results in mathematics, however, were significantly below NECAP scores in the lower grades, where proficiency levels by grade ranged from 60 to 48 percent.
According to officials, about 51 percent of the 11th graders tested in mathematics (primarily algebra and geometry) were classified as significantly below proficient, with just 1 percent classified as proficient with distinction. About 27 percent of students scored partially proficient on the test.
In response to results, Carcieri will covene a “mathematics summit” this spring that will bring math teachers and department chairs together to review mathematics education in Rhode Island.
“I want RIDE and Higher Education to assemble a review team, or SWAT team, to look at the curriculum and teaching at the schools whose students were not performing to the standard so as to make sure that they have undertaken the work of aligning their math curriculum to those standards,” the governor said.
Carcieri has also asked state education officials to create a Math Implementation Committee that will provide personal math plans for students who have fallen below grade level in math; specialized professional development for math teachers; and a review of the certification requirements for math teachers and teacher-training programs.
“This picture validates what we have suspected for some time — too many of our students today do not have access to the rigourous instruction or the supports needed to meet high math standards,” he said.
Carcieri and McWalters say the troubling mathematic test results are not a problem exclusive to Rhode Island. “We’re not alone. New Hampshire had comparable results. It’s not just a Rhode Island problem, it’s a national issue,” said Carcieri, adding that another part of the probnlem is that only half of Rhode Island high schools have implemented the new education standards.
“When it comes to mathematics education we need to change our mindset, culture and teacher practices if we’re going to solve the problem,” McWalters said. “These (NECAP) mathematics results are a call to action. We’re seeing good results in reading and writing, and we have seen steady improvement in the early grades. We must develop strategies to sustain this success in the higher grades.”
“We’re not going to lower the standards,” Carcieri said. “The important thing is we have a starting point. The question now is how do we move forward. Clearly, the key thing we need to do is drive implementation of these standards in all our high schools.”
The NECAP mathematics test results in some other nearby communities are as follows:
At North Smithfield Junior-Senior High School, 42, or 29.37 percent, of the 143 students tested, scored proficient in math.
At Burrillville High School, 40, or 19.90 percent, of the 201 students tested, were proficient.
At Ponaganset High School, 42, or 18.83 percent, of 223 students tested, were at or above proficient.