North Kingstown details changes for multilingual learners as RIDE updates rules

Jody Clark, North Kingstown director of curriculum, told the School Committee on Jan. 21 that the district is adjusting services for multilingual learners after proposed rule changes from the Rhode Island Department of Education. Clark said North Kingstown has 76 active multilingual learners, 21 students on a monitored list after exiting services and six students eligible but whose parents declined services.

The change Clark described centers on how the state will set annual English-language-proficiency targets and how districts are credited when students meet those targets. Clark said the new rules move to a nonlinear target model that gives more credit for early years of English development and no longer forces students to make up missed growth from prior years. She said the state is also giving credit for long-term English learners and expanding exit criteria to include students who score roughly 4.5–4.7 on the ACCESS test plus proficiency on the state ELA assessment (RICAS or SAT).

Why it matters: Clark said the regulatory changes affect how much targeted instructional time students must receive and the professional-development expectations for staff. Under prior regulations, beginning students were slated for multiple daily support periods; proposed regulations would require one dedicated English language-development period per student and new professional-development expectations for all content teachers.

Clark described current district supports that the new rules build on. North Kingstown has six full-time multilingual-learner teachers and a half-time MLL coach funded through categorical dollars. The coach, Kim Ramos, is providing job-embedded training in the district’s higher-incidence schools and helping teachers translate ACCESS proficiency results into classroom targets. Clark said the district now stores individualized English-language-proficiency (ELP) plans in Aspen so classroom teachers can see concrete, domain-by-domain goals and classroom strategies.

Clark also told the committee the district recently bought an interim ACCESS model with Title III funds so students can practice the speaking/listening tasks that differ from other state assessments. She said ACCESS testing for the current window runs through mid-February and urged building administrators to treat the test with the same protections as other state assessments so students are not interrupted during speaking or listening tasks.

Clark described classroom-level instructional strategies the district is scaling, including adapted seminar and think-pair-share protocols that integrate speaking, listening, reading and writing practice. She said the district used the English Language Success Forum (ELSF) cohort work and a RIDE-sponsored cohort to shape a timeline and plan for aligning to the expected changes.

Clark did not say the state rules were final. "The state right now is using MLL, but if you see those terms, it is our population of students that come to us speaking another home language, and they are learning English here, along with all their other coursework," Clark said.

The committee asked how soon the new rules might take effect; Clark said the regulations are in review and estimated a multi-year rollout with planning time similar to the Right to Read initiative.