A Coherent Vision in California, Rhode Island, Connecticut: State-Level Multilingual Learner Frameworks  

August 11, 2024

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision Lau v. Nichols, which affirmed English Learners’ Constitutional right to receive an equal education. In honor of this milestone, Regional Comprehensive Centers 2, 13, and 15’s special blog series reports on emerging state and district systemic trends to improve education for English Learners, arising from the Centers’ work with state and local educational agencies and research partners. The series highlights relevant research and systemic implementation tools now widely available, and describes how focusing on English Learners in K–12 decisions may benefit all students.

State educational agencies (SEAs) across the country are at different stages of advancing a coherent, research-based approach to serving English Learners (ELs) and Multilingual Learners (MLLs). SEAs typically begin by creating an overall state vision, so that systems have a guidepost to move toward, Regional Comprehensive Centers 2, 13, and 15 report.

In 2016, California became one of the first states to coherently articulate what English Learner education should look like, including principles and vision. The state created and adopted  the California English Learner Roadmap: Strengthening Comprehensive Educational Policies, Programs, and Practices for English Learners.

In the years since, WestEd’s Molly Faulkner-Bond reports, California has taken further steps to align systems to the EL Roadmap. For example, she notes:

• The state thoughtfully developed research-based guidance for districts and schools on approaching English Learner reclassification–now being disseminated statewide.
• The California Department of Education also produced “Improving Education for Multilingual and English Learner Students: Research to Practice” to support districts implementing the EL Roadmap.

Connecticut and Rhode Island Move Toward Evidence-Based State Frameworks

Between 2020 and 2021, the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) developed Rhode Island’s Blueprint for Multilingual Learner Success. The Region 2 Comprehensive Center (R2CC) facilitated the blueprint’s development at RIDE’s request, using processes described in Region 2 CC Supports RIDE to Develop Multilingual Learner Blueprint.

Today, RIDE works to align systems to these articulated values and goals, including evaluating their state multilingual learner regulations to ensure clear connections to research and evidence-based practices.

To ensure that any regulations and policy decisions are rooted in realities faced by students and teachers, the state has conducted widescale listening sessions.

“RIDE is looking to deeply understand the impacts of system change on school and district communities, including what is in place now and what it would take to implement changes in how English Learners are taught to be able to be both proactive and responsive,” reports Sarah Barzee, director of the Region 2 Comprehensive Center, which partnered with RIDE to design and conduct the listening sessions.

Specifically, R2CC facilitated focus groups and interviews with educators at all levels of the system, including classroom teachers, principals, coordinators, and superintendents. It developed a high-level report detailing the results of this interest-holder engagement to inform RIDE’s revisions to the multilingual learner regulations.

Supporting R2CC in collecting this on-the-ground input is Kate Wright, a former English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher. Wright is also a former SEA leader and now serves as director of the Region 15 Comprehensive Center, liaising with state education departments nationally that are working to move from plans to roadmaps to actual instructional practice.

“As communication brokers, if you will, we are helping listen to, collect, and incorporate suggestions from the districts who will be most impacted by the changes being developed at the state level,” she says of the listening sessions she facilitated.

Because Regional Comprehensive Centers bring in neutral technical assistance specialists, says Wright, this can help encourage those impacted by the state’s considerations to candidly open up and provide important information that can lead to more successful and sustainable state policies and programs.

“The most useful path forward is what is both good for children and what is possible to broadly implement,” she adds.

To help the state identify that optimal path, R2CC also recently created a report for RIDE containing a scan of how other states are serving English Learners.

The Connecticut State Department of Education Follows Suit

Also, with R2CC’s support, the Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE) is developing its statewide English Learner/Multilingual Learner framework. Leveraging a diverse group of stakeholders for input, the department intends for the framework to subsequently direct changes to resources, regulations, and opportunities for English Learners.

As in Rhode Island, Connecticut state leaders are closely evaluating evidence of strong instructional practices and specific resources needed to support classrooms. To help, R2CC provided research scans to determine what is happening in other states, alongside input from general education and MLL education focus groups throughout Connecticut, reports Wright.

Check Out Other Posts in This Series

1. Q&A With the Expert: Molly Faulkner-Bond on A Logic Model for Systemic English Learner Reform
2. A Coherent Vision in California, Rhode Island, Connecticut:  State-Level Multilingual Learner Frameworks
3. Longitudinal Levers for English Learners (Part I): Dual Language, Extra Instructional Time, Counselors, Teacher Preparation
4. Longitudinal Levers for English Learners (Part II): California Launches New Tool to Guide EL Reclassification Based on Language Use in the Classroom
5. Longitudinal Levers for English Learners (Part III): New Mexico Adopts English Learner Disability Identification Guide
6. Two Key Ways States Can Begin to Reorient K–12 Systems to Provide Students Essential Oral Opportunities to Learn

The contents of this post were developed by the Region 2, 13, and 15 Comprehensive Centers. These centers are funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education. However, the contents of this post do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the federal government.