The Boston Globe report on the results of the statewide academic test, the RI Comprehensive Assessment System (RICAS) on October 18, 2024, included one bright spot:
“Students who recently exited multilingual learner (MLL) programs scored higher than the statewide average in both English Language Arts (ELA) and Math.”
So, what are these “Multilingual Learner” (MLL) programs, how do they work, and why are they important to our city?
MLL students speak a language other than English at home and they make up nearly 40% of the Providence Public School District (PPSD) . Realistically, that number may be even higher. The Providence Human Rights Commission estimated in 2020 that the number was closer to 50%.
ESL and DL- What’s the Difference
Various models of multilingual education exist in Providence, but there are essentially two: immersive Dual Language (DL) and English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL)
For many years, Providence has placed students who are not proficient in English in regular classes with English-speaking classmates. They also receive an additional ESL class with other English language learners which consists of one-on-one and group practice of English with specialists. The problem with that approach is that students, especially in middle and high school, find it hard to follow, say, 10th grade history, when they can’t communicate at all in English. Students do not learn or speak in their home language in ESL-only school environments.
Students in Immersive Dual Language (DL) classes, on the other hand, receive equal instructional time in English and a second language, like Spanish, across all subjects, throughout the school year.
According to 44 years of scholarship by researchers such as Professors Virginia Collier and Wayne Thomas of George Mason University, as well as recent research by the Institute of Education Sciences and the RAND Corporation we now know that Dual Language programs are more successful than ESL programs and improve English literacy for both MLL students and students who speak only English at home.
Yet only 5% of all PPSD students experience immersive DL education and learn core content in Spanish and in English. There are only two public immersive DL schools in Providence. The Leviton Dual Language school, within the Providence Public School District (PPSD), is located off Elmwood Avenue in South Providence. The other is a public charter school called Nuestro Mundo located off Broad Street in South Providence. (In the whole rest of the state, there are only two other fully immersive public DL schools: International Charter School in Pawtucket which is trilingual [Spanish, Portuguese and English] and Raices Dual Language Academy, part of the Central Falls Public School District.)
Learning in Native Language Helps Students Learn English
It may seem counterintuitive at first, but according to experts, mastering your first language significantly improves your ability to master a second. That’s the power of the young brain. And of course, for subjects like Math and Science– learning in your home language makes it much easier to understand academic subjects.
Leviton School students consistently outperformed both the statewide and the city’s (PPSD) average math scores, according to RI Comprehensive Assessment testing (RICAS). Significantly more students are meeting/exceeding expectations in math at Leviton (37.8%) compared to the RI average (30.1%). Yet, a majority of students at Leviton speak only Spanish at home.


The same is true of English Language Arts (ELA) performance at Nuestro Mundo. In 2024 70% of Nuestro Mundo students were at least “Partially Meeting” if not “Meeting or Exceeding Expectations” in English Language in contrast to 54% Providence-wide.


DL Schools Have More Spanish-Speaking Staff, Which Makes A Difference
Dual Language schools are significantly more ethnically/culturally representative of the students and families they serve because they necessarily employ more Spanish-speaking teachers. As a result, students and their families can relate to, and communicate more easily with, teachers and administrators.
DL schools report more than double the Latino/a/x staff than the average PPSD school. The more Latino/a/x staff in a school, the less students tend to be chronically absent — about 28% less absent. In general, Dual Language programs function on the healthy psychology of immersion, which is a model for empathetic social integration. Within this immersion culture, nobody has to feel the shame of not speaking one language or the other; all students are learning to speak a second language.

The percentage of chronic absenteeism in PPSD and the % of the staff who identify as Latino/a/x are directly related. The four public DL schools in Rhode Island are the red dots which all report at least 40% Latino/a/x Spanish speaking staff.
Having more Spanish-speaking staff clearly makes a difference when it comes to school culture and relationships. Programs that engage and respect multilingual learners make it easier students, parents, and staff to understand one another, and in turn, to help students thrive academically. Some students may only have a single teacher who they can rely on to explain things to them. Some schools rely on computer-assisted language translation to communicate with parents by phone.
Why Are There So Few Dual Language Schools?
While some urban school systems, nationally, have embraced DL as a pedagogical strategy, Providence has not. Some community members, however, have been organizing to advocate for more DL Schools. A recent meeting with parents and neighborhood residents focused on the Gilbert Stuart School which closed in June 2024. As a result of their advocacy, current School Board member Night Jean Muhingabo, introduced and passed a resolution calling for Gilbert Stuart to become a K-8 Dual Language School.

Jennifer Walker, the principal of Leviton, recently expressed her frustration as the leader of the only fully immersive DL school building in PPSD at the 2024 Annual DL Education Conference by the Multistate Association of Bilingual Education (MABE):
“There are a lot of people not involved in Dual Language…, who have the misinformation that students [at DL schools] are learning [only] half the time…. It’s challenging to be [the only DL school] within a district that is not entirely dual language… Many of us are constantly advocating for materials, for program considerations.”
Expanding Dual Language Schools Depends on Political Will
Expanding DL programs in Providence could take even greater advantage of the human capital that exists here. Foreign-born teachers and allied professionals who reside in Providence often work in unskilled, low paying jobs because they cannot pass the State requirements in English– but they would easily pass them in Spanish.
Professor Dr. Laura Hamman Ortiz at the URI Feinstein College of Education has recommended that RIDE allow DL teachers the opportunity to take examinations and certifications in the language they will be teaching in. Currently, teachers at DL schools must fulfill these requirements in English even if they will only be teaching in Spanish. This proposed reform would not cost additional money and promises to expand the supply of DL teachers.
The Coalition for a Multilingual RI supports two pieces of State legislation to incentivize the recruitment and training of multilingual teaching talent.
The “Bilingual, Dual Language and World Language Teacher Investment Act” would create a scholarship fund to incentivize multilingual teachers seeking RIDE certification to become public school teachers in the urban core schools: Providence, Pawtucket, Central Falls, Woonsocket and Newport.
The “Support and Access to Bilingual Education Act” establishes a grant fund for public schools (including public charters) that implement immersive, dual language educational models.
While it clearly faces an uphill battle at the State House and in the city, Immersive Dual Language education arguably is the most equitable, cost-effective and data-driven reform that Providence policy makers can implement to improve our public schools.
Diego Tomas Arene-Morley is a bilingual clinical social worker who works with the unhoused and undocumented populations of Providence, Pawtucket and Central Falls. Diego currently serves as the Board Chair for the Nuestro Mundo Public Charter school. He likes translating poetry and going on long walks in Roger Williams Park with his wife, Jennifer Dalton Vincent, and their two sons, Dexter and Luca.