Despite little change in NECAP test scores statewide, Cranston posted some notable improvements for the 2011 testing year. Superintendent Peter Nero is pleased with the results, but finds himself more focused on the looming threat to the district’s performance.

“Cranston as we knew it is gone. We are a changing and evolving community, and now, we are a depressed community too,” he said, referring to the significant increase in poverty-stricken students over the past few years.

When he left Western Hills as a principal in 2006, the percentage of low-income students was less than 5 percent. Last year, it was 11.1 percent.

This year, it jumped more than 5 percentage points to 16.8 percent low-income students.

“We’re competing against poverty,” he said. “It’s earth shattering to think, in this city, that’s what’s happening.”

Those increases are not limited to Western Hills. Across the city, the number of impoverished students has rises significantly in the past year. At Gladstone, the figures rose from roughly 60 percent to more than 72 percent – nearing Arlington’s 78 percent, as the highest in the district. At George J. Peters, the figures rose from 36 to 42 percent. At Rhodes, the figures rose from 15 to 21 percent.

Even at schools with relatively low poverty figures, like Glen Hills, the change from 2010-2011 to 2011-2012 is significant: rising from 8 to 14.7 percent.

At the middle schools, Bain, Park View and Western Hills boast 64.6 percent, 48.2 percent and 16.8 percent poverty respectively.

Also notable is the difference between the district’s high schools. Cranston West’s student body is made up of 12.4 percent impoverished students (up from 8.6 percent), significantly below East’s percentage – 47.2 percent (up from 36.7 percent). At the New England Laborers’/Cranston Public Schools Construction Career Academy, just over half of the students are living in low-income households.

Looking at these figures, Nero plans to order an audit of the district’s Title I monies to ensure that they are being utilized correctly. He thinks programs like in-classroom breakfast can improve student performance, and said the district is already making important investments to address the needs of low-income students, such as hiring an ELL coordinator for the district.

“We have schools that are really more reflective of urban, inner-city schools,” he said.

He also wants to lobby the state for increased categorical funding for special education. The state directed approximately $32,000 to the district this year, but Nero believes it should be significantly more.

“The fair funding formula takes care of one aspect but there is still the fact of the high cost of special education that is coming to the district,” he said.

Still, his outlook is positive.

Nero points out that the district has requested the smallest increase in funding from the city, 1.76 percent, since he took office. The budget is in good shape, and Governor Lincoln Chafee has proven that education is a priority for his administration.

And despite the tension between the district and Commissioner of Education Deborah Gist due to the Achievement First mayoral academy application, the commissioner commended Cranston for its scores – particularly at the middle schools.

At Park View, 80 percent of students are proficient or higher in reading, 59 percent in mathematics and 68 percent in writing. At Western Hills, 88 percent of students are proficient or higher in reading, 74 percent in mathematics and 72 percent in writing. At Hugh B. Bain, 75 percent of students are proficient or higher in reading, 60 percent in mathematics and 61 percent in writing.

In math, that means that Western Hills students scored 14 percent higher than the statewide average of 60 percent proficient.

At the high schools, the math proficiency scores are cause for concern. Only 22 percent of East students are proficient or higher in math, and 27 percent of West students are proficient or higher.

To combat those statistics, Nero calls for more investments into education technology and improving teacher quality.

“This is nothing against my teachers; they work hard,” he said. “But the bottom line to it all, is prior to 1990, if you graduated college with a teaching degree, you had five years to get a Master’s degree in the area you taught. That is no longer the case.”

Nero thinks it should be. He believes math teachers should have degrees in that subject area, and thinks the state and the district need to have more professional development opportunities.

“We’ve really kind of loosened up the requirements. I fear our college kids aren’t coming out strong enough in mathematics to teach it,” he said.

Much of that, he added, is a general dislike for math. With the help of educators, he thinks that trend can be reversed and young students can learn to appreciate and ultimately excel in math.

The high schools did, however, fare better in the other testing categories. West has 81 percent proficient or higher in reading and 51 percent proficient in writing. East has 76 percent proficient or higher in reading and 48 percent proficient in writing.

Overall, the state’s scores remain largely unchanged, which has Commissioner Gist worried. Elementary and high school students statewide both saw no change in proficiency in reading, though middle school students improved 4 percentage points.

In math, elementary school scores remain unchanged, middle school scores improved by 3 percentage points and high school math scores dropped by 3 percentage points to just 30 percent of high school students being proficient in math.

The statewide averages for writing scores are 55 percent proficient at the elementary level, 59 percent proficient at the middle school level and 51 percent proficient at the high school.

To improve scores across the board, Nero believes the state needs to pick a plan and stick to it. Districts have gone from using reference standards to NECAP, and now, will switch to the Common Core Standards. Consistency is key for teachers and students to excel.

“You can’t change like that. Let’s have a plan,” he said.