After a scathing review from the Justice Department found deficiencies in the way Providence Schools educated their multi-language learners, the district agreed to ramp up teacher certification. While Warwick’s population of multi-language learners (MLL) is less than Providence’s, administrators believe that the services provided are adequate based on the number of students in the district; however, with the growing population of MLLs comes the potential for a certification mandate to reach Warwick teachers.

According to Anne Siesel, coordinator of federal programs and grants, Warwick has a relatively small population of MLL students. There are currently 153 students enrolled in Warwick’s English Language Instruction Program (ELIP).

“Our program, over time, has grown. By RIDE’s standards, 150 is considered a high program and we met that threshold two years ago and have not gone below that number since. Our numbers have steadily gone up,” she said in an interview, compared to school districts like Pawtucket, Central Falls, or Cranston, where ELL students number in the hundreds or thousands.

According to Kristen Ward, head of the MLL department at Cranston Public Schools, 7.7 percent of Cranston’s student population is considered MLL, or roughly 850 students.

In an interview on Friday, Ward explained that multi-language learners are the fastest growing subgroup in the country, and enrollment in Cranston has gone up every year.

There is an MLL certified teacher in each of the Cranston schools, however exact numbers are “fluid” as Ward explained that staffing is adjusted as needed.

What Ward does encounter are families who decline MLL services for their child. “Every family has their own reasoning, sometimes it’s because they want their childhood to stay at a certain school, sometimes the child is exposed to English at home,” she said in an interview.

Certified ESL teachers

In Warwick, there is a certified ESL teacher in each of the secondary schools, and in six of the thirteen elementary schools in the district. Siesel says these teachers are placed based on need.

While the certification is certainly appreciated in Warwick, it is not yet mandatory. Because of the lower numbers, says Siesel, classroom teachers do not have to hold an ESL certification.

“We have a pull out program,” she explained. “We have a special teacher who is certified and works one on one or in small groups with students who are identified as EL students.”

Darlene Netcoh, president of the Warwick Teacher’s Union, believes that Warwick should bring the teachers to the students, instead of asking students to relocate to schools with MLL services. “They need more EL teachers to balance out the caseloads, so the students get the same amount of services no matter what school they go to,” she said in an interview.

Additionally, Warwick purchased a series of materials and online resources to aide MLL students and teachers, but chose not to renew the programs.

“If we ramp up our program and provide the correct number of EL teachers and the proper support and materials, it’ll work,” Netcoh said.

Thanks to state categorical funds, Warwick was able to sponsor two cohorts of teachers in their ESL certifications. Siesel explained the “focus of the funds is to provide training and to provide opportunities for teachers to become certified.”

The funds covered tuition at the University of Rhode Island for teachers to get a master’s degree in teaching English as a second language (TESL). There were originally three teachers sponsored, however only one stayed the course. The funds also provided a cohort of six teachers to receive an endorsement for certification from Roger Williams University, but due to COVID and virtual learning, only three teachers are completing the program.

“We knew as numbers went up and the EL force was aging, we’d need more teachers,” said Siesel. “As long as the categorical money flows, we’ll offer those opportunities. We’re not talking huge numbers here, because we’re not seeing huge EL numbers.”

Siesel also mentioned that the district has provided professional development for teachers who have MLL students. Teachers can participate in a series of workshops over the course of several months that dives deeper into working on writing and speaking with students, as well as providing resources and different instructional strategies.

Margo Williams, ELIP department head at Winman Middle School, has been teaching for 31 years and has seen the MLL program grow.

In an interview Tuesday, Williams said she understands that teachers often feel disconnected from families of MLL. “We’re a large district, and MLLs are such a small portion. We’re often neglected and invisible because of our size. We’re just a small piece of the pie.”

Williams acknowledged the struggles to communicate with families of MLL learners. When teachers passed out materials at Warwick Veterans Middle School for the new quarter, for example, they reported communication barriers between teachers and family members.

“It’s a struggle whenever messages go out from the school,” said Williams. “They have to be in several languages. While not many administrators know how to do that, we’ve seen growth.”

However, Williams doesn’t see a certification mandate for Warwick any time soon. “Do I think it’ll happen? For less than two percent of the population, I don’t know if the district will do that. But I’m always one for advocating, and the current administration has been so much better than the past. We’ve had more support than ever.”

This upcoming spring, Siesel says the district is shifting their focus slightly to better discern the differences between EL students and students who have special needs.

“It’s difficult to discern the different between language barriers and learning disabilities, it’s not always easy to tell the difference. You don’t want to over identify, but there are kids who fall through the cracks because it’s not obvious,” she said. RIDE will be offering opportunities for classroom teachers and ESL teachers to work together on intervention strategies to “really narrow down whether or not it’s a language barrier or learning disability,” Siesel said.