2023 Rhode Island State of Education Address

Published on Thursday, June 01, 2023

As Prepared for Delivery

Good evening.

Thank you for joining us for the 2023 State of Education to celebrate our kids, our families, our teachers, our administrators - OUR SCHOOL COMMUNITIES!

This evening is special because despite the challenges and difficulties of the last few years, our school communities did not waver. They pushed forward and as a result, our state education system is on the move!

To be clear, I know it has been difficult. I know that educators have been tested like never before. With that in mind, I want to ask you a question: what gives you hope about education in Rhode Island?

We want to hear from you! Use the QR code behind me to let us know and we will create a word cloud that reflects your answers to memorialize our thoughts and remind us of why we are in this work together. 

With that said, it is my distinct honor to be among such amazing leaders including principals, superintendents, school committee members, town and city representatives, and state officials to place the spotlight on the powerful and inspiring stories of our students, teachers, and schools.

I want to recognize the dignitaries here. Thank you, Governor Dan McKee, Providence School Board President and Acting Chief of Staff for Lieutenant Governor Sabina Matos, Erlin Rogel, Secretary of State Gregg Amore, honorable members of the Rhode Island State Legislature, and Council on Elementary and Secondary Education Members Marta Martinez and Michael Almeida.

I want to also spotlight a great champion for education, Neil Steinberg, who officially retired from the Rhode Island Foundation today and still made sure to be here this evening. Thank you, Neil, for your partnership and tremendous support through the years. 

Thank you as well to Nancy Maguire Heath and the entire Rhode Island School for the Deaf community for hosting us and above all for all the work you do with our students. 

Thank you to the Rhode Island Association of School Committees, Rhode Island Association of School Principals, Rhode Island School Superintendents Association, Rhode Island League of Charter Schools, and our other charter and school partners present.

Thank you to my RIDE colleagues here. Partnership and support are key ingredients in the formula for our success at RIDE, and I could not be more grateful to work with an incredible group of professionals. Thank you, RIDE team!

I want to give a big shout out to a true champion for education and for our kids, Governor Dan McKee. Through his years of public service, the Governor has shown a deep commitment to our youth and schools, and I am thankful for his ongoing partnership.

As we pushed to remedy the deep impact of the pandemic on learning, the Governor joined our planning efforts to accelerate learning as a member of our Learning, Equity and Accelerated Pathways Task Force - also known as the LEAP Task Force. The group was tasked with creating a roadmap to recovery for our schools and their work served as a national model for other states to follow.

Now, as we set our eyes towards the future, Governor McKee is leading the charge to improve student outcomes through partnerships and a collective commitment to year-round learning. We know it is going to take all of us to move forward.

In April of 2022, the National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment released the first in-depth analysis of the impact of the pandemic. It indicated it would take three to five years of accelerated learning to return to pre-pandemic levels of student achievement. Like the work of the LEAP Task Force, the report emphasized the need for extended learning for recovery. Many if not all are engaged in this effort.

As a state, we know that high-quality, in- and out-of-school learning experiences will help students get back on track. As the Governor mentioned, Rhode Island is shifting culture from a focus on 180 school days of learning to 365 days with the goal of 1 million hours of additional learning. That is what it is going to take to not just recover but move forward.

In recent weeks, in partnership with the Governor’s Office, RIDE has been engaging with city and town leaders statewide to strategize and advance the priorities of Learn 365 RI with the goal of meeting Massachusetts levels by 2030. The Governor has given us a challenge. Governor, challenge accepted!

As I mentioned, we are a state on the move!

That is in large part because we began planning early and have tapped into resources and systems that complement what happens in schools.

For example, RIDE’s All Course Network, or ACN as it is known, offers enrichment and credit-bearing opportunities for PreK-12 students outside of the traditional school day. I’m proud to share ACN enrollment has more than quadrupled since the 2016 school year! ACN served nearly 4,000 students in more than 8,200 learning experiences this year alone. From Cybersecurity Fundamentals to SAT and PSAT prep, we are thrilled to watch our students learn, grow, and thrive through fascinating courses statewide.

We are committed to supplemental learning experiences to help students get back up to speed. In fact, RIDE recently announced a $4 million investment to partner schools with community-based organizations to offer more extended learning programs. We are thrilled that the Governor has proposed another $4 million for these programs in his Rhode Island Ready budget.

I have shared this with many of you here today: The pandemic took a toll on every facet of our lives, but as we rise as a state education system, I am committed to making sure we do not just return to where Rhode Island was pre-pandemic. We have a major opportunity to raise the bar and make strategic decisions and long-term investments to improve outcomes. A once-in-a-generation challenge has presented us with a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reimagine and empower schools to provide all kids the world-class education they deserve.

Like many of you here, my commitment to education and our kids is deeply rooted in my personal journey. As a daughter of immigrants from the Dominican Republic, the importance of an education was reinforced throughout my life. A quality education led me from Washington Heights to the New York State Education Department and now RIDE. Along the way, the stories of perseverance from students and educators reminded me that this work is beyond me - it is beyond us. Teaching truly is the ultimate act of optimism, and I am filled with optimism because I know that what is in motion both at RIDE and within our schools is nothing short of amazing.

I would like to share one story.

I had been leading RIDE for just a few months, when I first saw high school students crying at planning sessions because they felt like the education they received was just not good enough. They told us they were not ready for college or career. The emotions were raw and impactful. We swiftly began our work on reimagining the high school experience.

We are now in the process of implementing readiness-based high school graduation requirements which were approved by the Council on Elementary and Secondary Education unanimously. Through a robust 18-month public engagement process they became the most commented-on set of regulations in Rhode Island K-12 education history. Together we put forth standards that will ensure Rhode Islanders can build their own futures and are proficient in civics, computer science, financial literacy, and more.

With our revised high school graduation requirements in place and with strategic investments, we are on our way to preparing the workforce of tomorrow with a particular focus on Career and Technical Education.

Schools now offer nearly 300 RIDE-approved CTE programs, a 91% increase since the 2015-2016 school year! This school year alone brought about 24 new CTE programs into our schools. Another great statistic: the number of students graduating with a CTE industry-recognized credential has nearly doubled since the 2016 school year.

The programs provided today were printed by Providence Career and Technical Academy students and the food was prepared by Davies Career and Tech students.

Students at E-Cubed Academy in Providence have access to P-Tech programs that allow them to earn college credits and put them on paths to careers in programming, web development, and cybersecurity.

At Central High, through a partnership with the Providence Fire Department, students are suiting up and training to respond to emergencies with the goal of entering a future fire academy.

Students in Tiverton High’s Marine Carpentry Technology Program are building watercrafts, all while earning OSHA safety certifications and college credits.

At the Cranston Area Career and Technical Center, students in the Aquaculture program are observing marine life and studying emerging technology that will allow them to tap into the blue economy.

Food trucks have also started arriving for the 13 districts participating in our “Menu For Success” initiative! Students are learning to chef up delicious food, create business plans, and design and brand their truck. I invite you to join us on Saturday, October 19 from 12pm to 4pm at Chase Farm for our cookoff competition!

Whether a food truck - yes we will have those as well, classroom, science lab, or schoolyard habitat, we know that effective teaching and learning happens when the environment is right!

Across the state there is a collective effort to make historic investments to ensure that students are learning in modern facilities. Last November, voters overwhelmingly passed over $1.5 billion in local and statewide school construction referendums to build more new and like-new schools. 

Also, this past year, through the $250 million statewide bond that Governor McKee championed in last year’s budget, RIDE made $30 million in additional funding available for another round of the School Building Authority’s Facility Equity Initiative. The FEI ensures underserved school communities receive an equitable share of state school construction funding by prioritizing funds for the districts with the highest reimbursement rates and need.

RIDE also established a $15 million 21st Century Technology and Equipment Fund to help districts get innovative technology and equipment that fosters a STEM project-based learning approach and CTE pathways.

Our $5 million Art Reengages Talent in All Students initiative - ARTS - provided every school district at least $10,000 – and up to $800,000 – to support arts in their schools. This grant program supported Mount Pleasant High School students who recently visited the nation’s capital to perform in the Memorial Day parade and showcased our talent!

It should come as no surprise that Providence Public School students are shining bright!

For decades, Providence has been challenged in education and the state intervention began to once and for all address years of systemic dysfunction that have underserved generations of students. And even with the challenges of COVID, PPSD is doing remarkable work and making progress.

Through the intervention, we are tearing down old expectations and building new ones, brick by brick! To raise the number of Providence students who learn in high-quality learning spaces from just 5% to 50%, PPSD is implementing a bold $500+ million school construction plan. In the last 14 years, PPSD celebrated the opening of one new school: the Providence Career and Technical Academy. Just this fall alone, under the Turnaround, Providence students will be welcomed to three new and like-new schools including Spaziano, D’Abate, and the Narducci Learning Center.

Our focus is not just school buildings. We are laser-focused on addressing the challenges the 2019 Johns Hopkins report explicitly noted as barriers for success. We’ve improved instruction and provided continuity for students by introducing a high-quality, K-12 curriculum. We expanded opportunities for our youngest learners to succeed and announced PPSD’s first 5-star Pre-K Program at Young Woods Elementary. We also launched more professional learning opportunities and incentives to retain and attract teachers including an $8,000 ESL reimbursement that did not exist before the Turnaround. Approximately 500 teachers have received their ESL certification through this program.

We heard loud and clear that teachers wanted more time to plan and greater access to support. In the last two years, we’ve invested over $8 million to transition from 1 day of paid professional development for teachers to 5. We have also offered incentives to fill hard fill areas including math, science, and special education teachers. And, with the goal of better supporting our students in the aftermath of the pandemic, we have added school counselors, assistant principals, school culture coordinators districtwide, and a business officer to better support our large high schools.

When I first came to Providence and met with families, I witnessed despair. I heard the heartbreaking stories of frustrated students who had been shortchanged by a failing district. I made a promise that things would change, that it would get better. And although it has not been easy, Providence schools continue to move in the right direction. A big thank you to all the educators helping to move this agenda.

In our recently released 2023 SurveyWorks results, Providence saw gains in areas that affirm there is momentum. Providence students are talking more about college and careers and educators are pleased with high-quality instructional materials including curriculum. I want to recognize Dr. Javier Montañez, a student and now leader of PPSD, as well as his team, for their diligent work to benefit Providence students and families.

Community engagement is a pillar of the work we do at RIDE, and SurveyWorks allows us to gather feedback directly from students, families, educators, and administrators so that we know where we are doing well, and where we need to improve. This year statewide, we saw the highest response rates ever from administrators, educators, and families in SurveyWorks history!

As we move forward, we know that the focus cannot be just on academics. We must also expand access to social-emotional and wrap-around services for our school communities. Last year, we launched the “Let It Out” campaign to bolster mental and behavioral health services for our youth. 

Just last month, nearly 40 local education agencies secured $3 million dollars to create school wellness spaces through our W.E.L.L. Initiative – Wellness in Education Leads to Learning. The funds will also support professional development. We can’t wait to see the positive impact these spaces have.

Ladies and gentlemen, while we expect to continue to face challenges, Rhode Island is rising and meeting this moment! We are strengthening the fabric of our education system to propel our students forward. Districts have already invested nearly $270 million of ESSER funds to open schools safely, expand academic and social-emotional supports, and accelerate learning. They have planned intentional investments for the remaining relief funds and will continue to put their ESSER plans into strategic action through the September 2024 deadline.

And in the spirit of collaboration, RIDE has complemented these investments by leveraging set-aside funds to target support for our most vulnerable districts and historically underserved students such as our multilingual learners; expanding valuable professional development and training for educators; better engaging and informing families; and pushing to realize year-round learning through partnerships.

I want to emphasize that there is no greater partner in this important work than our teachers.

It is said that: “A good teacher is like a candle—it consumes itself to light the way for others.” In the face of a global health and economic crisis, selfless educators from across Rhode Island sacrificed so much to light the way for our children and families, and for that we are eternally grateful. I ask that you please join me in applauding the District Teachers of the Year present this evening who represent the best of the best in our schools. Teachers are the reason that we are able to push forward! Thank you!

As RIDE continues to shift from an agency focused primarily on compliance to one focused on support, we have made great efforts to empower schools to meet this critical moment and serve the needs of their school communities. In alignment with the 2019 Education Accountability Act, RIDE has launched a Strategic Planning System and robust District and School Report Cards to help the planning and monitoring of goals and objectives to improve academic performance.

We are setting clear and consistent expectations for growth and improvement across the state and promoting strategic, data-driven decision making to help all our kids succeed.

Rhode Island - we are a state on the move because each and everyone here this evening is committed to our kids. And as I close, I would like to draw everyone’s attention to a remarkable leader. 

Nancy Maguire Heath has been leading the Rhode Island School for the Deaf for 11 years and will be retiring at the end of this school year. Under her exemplary leadership, RISD has placed the needs of students first and marched forward. In 2022, RISD exited Comprehensive Support and Improvement status. RISD is a shining example of what is possible in our schools and their story serves as a reminder that through partnership and collaboration anything is possible!

I ask that Nancy please join Governor McKee and I up on stage so that we may present her with a gubernatorial citation and certificates from city, state, and federal leaders honoring her service to our kids!

Again, thank you all for joining us this evening to celebrate our kids, our teachers, and our school communities. It has been a wonderful evening and it is my hope that you walk away with great excitement for what awaits us as we center our children in the important work that is before us. 

Tonight, I am proud to say that our state education system is on the move! Thank you!