WOONSOCKET — Hoping to combat a string of poor test scores, district administrators will add two state-financed mentors to city schools.

First up, the state Department of Education is placing what it is calling a “resident fellow” in the district to mentor principals at troubled schools.

Barbara Miller, of the state’s Progressive Support & Intervention (PS&I) team, will assume that role after Thanksgiving, traveling to Woonsocket “several days a week” for the next two years, School Supt. Maureen B. Macera confirmed yesterday.

As a district identified as needing progressive support, Woonsocket has been closely monitored by the state for several years. But Macera said she requested the on-site mentor as a way of helping school leaders in particular.

“Principals have so many responsibilities. This is another set of eyes, ears and hands for them,” she said.

Miller will be the second state-appointed mentor to come to Woonsocket. Former Rhode Island Principal of the Year Jane Kondon is currently serving as principal mentor at Woonsocket Middle School.

But unlike Kondon, Miller will work with principals at a number of schools, namely those that posted what the state calls “insufficient progress” in the last round of state testing: Kevin K. Coleman, Harris, and Gov. Aram J. Pothier elementary schools, as well as Woonsocket High School and Woonsocket Area Career & Technical Center.

As part of her work, Miller will make rounds to the schools, identifying specific issues in each building, looking at test scores and working on improvement strategies. Eventually, she will start a study group for principals and help them to shore up professional development programs, Macera said.

Because Miller is already paid by the state, the new position will not cost Woonsocket any money.

The state has also agreed to help finance a full-time master of teaching and learning, who will support teachers at Woonsocket High School and the Woonsocket Area Career & Technical Center.

That person will work daily in the classrooms, helping faculty with curriculum challenges and making suggestions about how to better their teaching practices. The master will also help align curriculum at the two high schools and get teachers ready for the new performance-based graduation requirements, the superintendent said.

“The focus will be 100 percent on instruction and support for instruction,” she added.

Given that the district plans to hire an internal candidate for the master position, the state Department of Education has agreed to finance the salary differential that the new position carries.

Macera says the School Department has made its selection, but refused to disclose that person’s name before tomorrow night’s School Committee meeting, when members are expected to vote on the appointment.

Committee Chairman Marc A. Dubois said he thinks the new hires are a positive sign for Woonsocket schools.

“It will take a lot of the pressure off of the principals and the teachers. It will be another two people thrown into the mix and that can’t hurt,” he said. “We all know at times being a teacher especially can be very stressful and very overwhelming. The state has offered to finance these positions and I think everyone is going to embrace them.”