Graduation Rate
Pawtucket's Graduation Rate Erased Eight Years of Gains in Three Years
Pawtucket climbed from 58% to 83% in six years, making it a turnaround success story. Then the rate fell back to 71%, with a 19% dropout rate.
Rhode Island
Education News & Data
Local education reporting from every corner of Rhode Island, grounded in Rhode Island Department of Education data.
Rhode Island's Five-Year Graduation Rate Reaches 70.8% for Students Receiving Special Education Services
Rhode Island's five-year graduation measure is 6.0 points higher for students receiving special education services, though a gap remains.
Rhode Island CTE Students Had a 9.7-Point Graduation-Rate Advantage in 2024
Rhode Island's published four-year graduation rate was 93.8% for the CTE subgroup and 84.1% for all students in 2024, a 9.7-point difference.
How a 5th Year of High School Rescues Rhode Island's Most Vulnerable Students
Rhode Island's 5-year graduation rate rescues foster care (+8.6pp), homeless (+7.6pp), and special education (+6.0pp) students, but not LEP students, who actually do worse.
Providence Enrollment Fell 4,012 During State Intervention
Providence enrollment fell from 23,836 in 2019-20 to 19,824 in 2025-26, a loss of 4,012 students or 16.8% during the state-intervention period.
More Coverage
Equity
Only 59% of Homeless Students Graduate in Rhode Island
Students who are currently homeless in Rhode Island graduated at just 59.0% in 2024, a 25-point gap from the state average and no improvement since reporting began in 2019.
District Spotlight
Woonsocket's 44% Absenteeism: The Highest Rate Among Rhode Island's Large Districts
Woonsocket's 44% chronic absenteeism rate is the highest among Rhode Island's large districts, with more than half of middle schoolers chronically absent.
Graduation Rate
Woonsocket Lost a Decade of Progress in Three Years
Woonsocket climbed from 63% to 74% over a decade, then collapsed back to 62% in three years. The dropout rate is double the state average.
Equity
The 16-Point Divide: Urban Rhode Island's Chronic Absenteeism Is Double the Suburbs
Rhode Island's urban districts have a 32% chronic absenteeism rate, double the 15.6% suburban rate. COVID widened the gap to 25 points before it narrowed.
District Spotlight
Providence Hits Its Highest Graduation Rate Under State Intervention
Providence posted a 79.4% graduation rate in 2024, its highest on record and a 5.8-point improvement since the state took over the district in 2019.
Absence
Only 8 of 60 Districts Have Recovered to Pre-COVID Absence Levels
Despite nationally recognized attendance campaigns, only 13.3% of Rhode Island districts have recovered to pre-COVID chronic absenteeism levels.
Achievement Gap
The White-Black Graduation Gap Narrowed to 4.8 Points in 2018, Then Doubled Back to 9
Rhode Island's white-Black graduation gap was closing steadily until 2018, reaching a record-low 4.8 points. Six years later, it's back to 9 points.
District Spotlight
Providence's 20-Point Turnaround: From 57% to 36% Chronic Absenteeism in Two Years
Providence Public Schools cut chronic absenteeism from 57% to 36% in two years under state control — the only large RI district to recover to pre-COVID levels.
Demographics
In Providence, White Students Graduate at the Lowest Rate of the Four Largest Racial Groups
Providence's white students graduate at 75.2%, the lowest among the district's four largest racial groups, reversing the statewide pattern where white students lead at 88.5%.
District Spotlight
Pawtucket's High Schools: 1 in 2 Students Chronically Absent
Half of Pawtucket's high schoolers are chronically absent — the rate is still rising while the rest of Rhode Island improves. Tolman High hit 59%.
