Legislative Priorities

• Increase collaboration between higher education institutions and K-12 districts to develop, support, and sustain bilingual and dual language programs.

• Support districts to invest equitably in language programs and education that reflects the languages and cultures present in the community.

Hire a World Language Specialist to lead and coordinate efforts in collaboration with the multilingual specialists at RIDE

• Pass the World Language and Dual Language Immersion Act in the Rhode Island General Assembly

• Create funding for world language and multilingual education specialists to facilitate implementation of the RI Blueprint for Multilingual Learner Success and provide external support to districts and schools.

Create incentives to recruit and retain multilingual educators (bilingual/dual language, world language & others)

• Develop state-based loan forgiveness for multilingual educators through public and private funding.

• Secure state/private matching funds for the federal Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant.

• Collaborate between local teacher and labor unions to recruit bilingual applicants and design pathways for teacher assistants and non-instructional staff towards teaching certification.

• Revise the World Language Educator certification regulations to recognize non-academic routes to proficiency and diversify the field to include the less commonly taught languages of our communities such as Khmer, Lao, Swahili, and K’iche’.

Revise the funding formula to include the unique and diverse needs of multilingual learners and develop grants for districts to develop bilingual programs

• Advocate that the General Assembly includes multilingual learners in the funding formula and remove them from categorical funding.

• Advocate that RIDE follows federal regulations and collaborates with districts to invest in research-based activities to develop and improve multilingual programs.

• Pass the World Language and Dual Language Immersion Act in the Rhode Island General Assembly

Develop proficiency incentives for students that encourage and reward world language study

• Expand and make accessible the Seal of Biliteracy to PK-20 students in public and private schools, and to include any languages learned at home, school, or in the community.

• Advocate for legislation to require state colleges and universities to recognize the Seal of Biliteracy for college credit, thereby creating incentives for students to complete a minor or major in a language in addition to another chosen major (social work, education, engineering, business, etc.).

• Collaborate with RIDE to engage community organizations and local educational institutions to curate multilingual courses in the Advanced Coursework Network (ACN).

• Develop dual/concurrent enrollment courses for advanced world language students in K-12 (post-AP).

Increase access for adequate translation and interpretation services for multilingual students and families

• Urge districts with large populations of multilingual learners to reserve more local, state and federal funding to develop and retain bilingual staff and community liaisons.

• Create a high school Interpretation and Translation Pathway.

• Advocate for more oversight to ensure districts invest in professional translation and interpretation services for school board meetings, parent-teacher conferences, IDEA consultations and more.