Project Summary

The Rhode Island Department of Education contracted with The Education Alliance to conduct an evaluation of its Graduation by Proficiency (GBP) Initiative. The GBP Initiative, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, was a project dedicated to the development of a critical component of Rhode Island's diploma system.

The GBP Initiative provided an overarching infrastructure of reform and support, technical assistance, and professional development for schools and districts as they developed and implemented rigorous and authentic diploma assessments. The GBP Initiative team developed tools, models, and protocols to support and stimulate effective and equitable instruction and curriculum, as well as fair and technically valid assessments in the areas of exhibitions, portfolios, and common tasks across Rhode Island.

The evaluation activities included the identification of state and local parameters for the development of locally-defined Proficiency Based Graduation Requirements, assessment of gains in key indicators at the demonstration sites, assessment of implementation rates across the state, and assessment of the awareness of GBP at all levels as measured by growth in the number of listserv subscribers and professional development participation.