RIDE Releases Final Version of Blueprint for Multilingual Learners’ Success

Published on Wednesday, September 01, 2021

Final plan reflects multilingual community suggestions and feedback

PROVIDENCE, RI — Rhode Island Commissioner of Education Angélica Infante-Green today released the Rhode Island Department of Education’s (RIDE) final version of its Blueprint for Multilingual Learners’ (MLL) Success. The Blueprint was developed through engagement sessions with stakeholders during the 2019-2020 school year and first released in draft form in December of 2020. After publishing the Blueprint, RIDE solicited feedback from educators, families, and students. With that feedback incorporated, the final version of the Blueprint can be viewed on RIDE’s website in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.

“It was vital to RIDE that our Blueprint for Multilingual Learners’ Success reflects the lived experience of the community members whose lives it would affect, and I am proud to release a document today that captures their voices,” said Commissioner Infante-Green. “The collective work that has been done on this document by community members, stakeholders, policymakers, and educators will benefit multilingual learners in Rhode Island for years to come.”

In addition to publishing the finalized Blueprint, RIDE also released the final version of its companion document, the Strategic Plan for MLL Success. While the Blueprint articulates the shared vision for MLL instruction and identifies principles for high quality instruction and services, the Strategic Plan outlines how RIDE will make them a reality. RIDE will spend 2021-2022 on engagement and adoption of policies, including pilot programs and professional development, and then move to the full implementation of the policies in 2023-2026.

RIDE has already started implementing some of these strategies. In April, RIDE, in partnership with the Rhode Island Foundation, announced that it would award the districts of Central Falls, Providence, Westerly, and Woonsocket with grants to explore, implement, or expand bilingual and dual-language learning programs in their schools, for a total of $100,000 in funding. Those districts began working to fulfill their plans last month.

In May and June, RIDE assembled a cross-office team to integrate evidence-based practices for MLLs and differently abled students into RIDE's curricular frameworks in ELA, math, and science. True to the vision and principles of the Blueprint, with these integration efforts, RIDE centered equity for all learners in its development of this guidance. RIDE has also partnered with Young Voices and Parents Leading for Educational Equity (PLEE) on a Gates Foundation grant to expand pathways for multilingual learners to succeed in algebra. Through this grant, RIDE engaged in human-centered design, leveraging student and parent voice to drive improvements to the agency's 8th grade math readiness program. Later this summer, RIDE expects to release additional guidance on high-quality MLL instruction as well as a Know Your Rights video for parents in Spanish.

RIDE is deeply committed to serving students of every walk of life, including the more than 23,000 current and former MLL students in Rhode Island who speak over 100 languages between them and comprise 16% of the total student population. Community engagement sessions to develop a similar blueprint and strategic plan for differently-abled students have already begun.