Gabriel Elby, a sixth-grader at the Robert F. Kennedy Elementary School, does some independent reading. The school improved significantly on state test scores over the year.

The Providence Journal / Steve Szydlowski

PROVIDENCE — Sometimes it’s the little things, not the revolutionary changes, that make one school successful while another fails.

That seems to be the case with Robert F. Kennedy Elementary School in Elmhurst. Kennedy has one of the highest scores in the district, second only to the much-touted Vartan Gregorian Elementary School in Fox Point, on the state’s latest round of math and English achievement tests, released this week.

The percentage of students reading at or above the proficiency level jumped from 54 percent to 65 percent in one year. In math, the scores rose to56 percent proficient from 41 percent. Kennedy students even showed progress on the state writing test at a time when writing scores declined across the state.

Kennedy’s progress is an example of the district writ small. Nearly every one of the city’s public schools made gains in student achievement on the statewide assessments taken by children in grades 3 through 8.

Kennedy principal Gina Picard attributes her school’s success to a number of ingredients: getting children to feel more comfortable with the test, analyzing previous test data to pinpoint strengths and weaknesses and getting parents more involved in their child’s learning.

One of the biggest stumbling blocks, she said, had little to do with instruction.

“Our students,” she said, “were nervous about taking the test.”

The state testing takes place over two weeks and each segment lasts 90 minutes. That, Picard said, puts a lot of pressure on children who are 6, 7 and 8 years old. So Picard and her staff came up with some ideas to make testing less of a burden. They held a pep rally and offered incentives, from Frisbees to longer recess periods, if children made a real effort on the assessments. Any class with a perfect attendance during the testing period was rewarded with an ice cream party.

Kennedy faculty worked hard to get students familiar with the test questions. Students who were performing below grade level in reading and math were offered after-school tutoring for five weeks this fall. Teachers also spent time in class preparing students for the types of questions they would receive on the tests.

“We did a lot of test preparation to relieve anxiety,” said Maria Laurenzo, a sixth grade teacher. “The kids seemed to take the test more seriously this year.”

“The whole idea is to beat the test-makers,” said a third grade teacher, Kendra Haggerty. ‘I tell my kids, ‘You can do it.’ ”

Asked if this amounted to “teaching to the test,” which is a common criticism of schools with high-stakes exit exams, Picard said no.

“If we’re not teaching what we’re assessing, then what are we doing?”

Teachers gave students sample examples of the writing prompt, which asks children to respond to a specific question about a short piece of literature. Staff also familiarized students with vocabulary the children might encounter on test questions.

But Picard and her faculty drilled deeper than that. Last year was the first time that Rhode Island used the New England Common Assessment Program, a test developed in partnership with New Hampshire and Vermont. The beauty of this test, Kennedy said, is that it gives teachers information on how individual students did on specific questions. Kennedy’s faculty used that data to identify weaknesses in their curriculum. Where do we need to do more work? Is it phonemic awareness? Reading analysis? Sentence structure?

Kennedy faculty also took a close look at student behavior. Deputy Supt. Frances Gallo, who left the district last month, developed guidelines last year showing schools how they could reinforce positive behavior. Picard and her staff selected four goals and drove home their importance in meetings with students and parents. Those behaviors, by the way, are respect, responsibility, achievement and safety. The school also implemented a program that rewards students for good behavior, called the “helping hands” cards.

“[Supt. Donnie] Evans has talked about creating safe, caring, orderly schools that have positive cultures,” Picard said. “That’s what we are trying to do.”

No school, however, can be truly effective unless it involves parents, and Picard is trying to do just that. Kennedy held an open house at the beginning of the school year at which teachers explained their classroom expectations. The faculty also told parents what they could do at home to further their child’s reading and writing skills. Meanwhile, the school’s math and literacy coaches are training parents to work with students in the classroom on phonemic awareness and other basic reading skills.

Kennedy has also been fortunate in creating a profitable relationship with Providence College, which sends young adults to student-teach at the school.

“These are our kids,” Picard said. “Every teacher feels responsible for every child in the building.”

lborg@projo.com