RIASPA Receives Exciting New National Grant!

Rhode Island was one of six states to receive a highly competitive national grant to improve afterschool and summer learning opportunities for students through the Supporting Student Success initiative.

The grant will support the Rhode Island Afterschool Plus Alliance’s plan to develop, adopt and implement state policies that better integrate expanded learning opportunities—such as afterschool, summer learning and extended day and year programs—into the state education system.The Rhode Island Afterschool Plus Alliance has assembled a State Leadership Team comprised of Commissioner of Education Peter McWalters; Providence Mayor David Cicilline; House Majority Leader Gordon Fox; Sue Stenhouse, Deputy Director of Community Relations in the Office of Governor Carcieri; and Elizabeth Burke Bryant, Executive Director of Rhode Island KIDS COUNT.The State Leadership Team will work in conjunction with a team of Advisors, with representatives from funders, state agencies, the Lt. Governor’s office, the Providence After School Alliance, a superintendent, and others to devise and implement strategies to better integrate expanded learning opportunities into a comprehensive approach to education in Rhode Island.

The work of the State Leadership Team and the Advisors will focus on two specific long-term outcomes:

1. To improve student performance in high poverty urban areas by providing students the extra time and support they need to meet the demands of rigorous academic coursework; and
2. To increase the high school graduation rate in high poverty urban areas with the lowest graduation rates by helping to keep at-risk students engaged in school.

In addition to funding, grant recipients will receive in-depth consulting services from the three organizations involved in this joint initiative: the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), and the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center).

The other states who received the grant are Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Colorado, Iowa, and Ohio.

The Supporting Student Success initiative in Rhode Island is made possible with support from the C.S. Mott Foundation, and with additional support from the United Way of Rhode Island.