The state has been deliberating a new literacy program for months. Some advocates say the state needs to make sure that anything it approves is sensitive to the needs of multilingual students. Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Education.
Mississippi schools were ranked the second worst in the nation for fourth grade literacy in 2013. Under the leadership of Carey Wright, Mississippi schools climbed to 21st, earning the title of most improved state for student literacy, and now outpacing the nationwide average. By comparison, Maryland is ranked 40th.
Now Maryland’s top education official, Superintendent Wright is working to replicate her success here, which is based on the “science of reading” (SoR). Community WELL, a coalition of educators, parents, students and policy activists, is advocating for policies that are inclusive of the unique needs and assets of Multilingual Learners (MLs), one of the most underserved populations in Maryland.
To that end, Maryland’s literacy policy must be equitable and culturally responsive.
Multilingual learners in Maryland are students whose first language is not English. MLs make up 12% of Maryland’s enrollment and are the fastest growing population in our schools. Looking at the 2023 results of the state standardized test (MCAP), only 31% of MLs were proficient in English, and in math, only 12%. These numbers reveal a critical need to focus on proven instructional models for MLs, instead of a one-size-fits-all approach.
We must acknowledge the rich knowledge and literacies of MLs and center their cultural identities and lived experiences in the classroom. Children who do not feel a sense of belonging or connection with lessons will often disengage. While ML education experts tout the benefits of parts of the SoR approach, they emphasize the need to simultaneously focus on oral language development, strategic use of home language, and culturally responsive assessments and lessons.
One elementary teacher in our coalition pre-teaches important vocabulary to make content accessible for her ML students. It helps them make connections to their experiences and predict what the text is about. This simple strategy increases engagement and reduces cognitive load on students because they have been taught the key words. Many curricula based on SoR do not consider the importance of developing oral language and vocabulary in context.
A social worker in our group from Baltimore City emphasizes the importance of developing strong relationships with MLs. He counseled an elementary student from Honduras who was being disruptive in class. After two months of talking through his frustrations and incorporating his favorite music and sports into lessons, his behavior and classwork improved significantly.
The Maryland State Department of Education should prioritize ongoing professional development opportunities for educators to enhance their knowledge about culturally responsive strategies, literacy instruction and relationship building with students. These approaches encourage development of curriculum and materials that reflect the students’ diverse cultural and linguistic identities.
The Maryland literacy plan should also include strategies such as translanguaging, a key practice for ML literacy development and language learning. Translanguaging empowers students to use their full linguistic repertoire as they learn English. In Prince George’s County, one of our teachers regularly uses this approach to culturally affirm students, honor their multilingual wealth of knowledge and offer students the opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of content and concepts through their linguistic strengths.
In addition to this strategy, MSDE should move towards implementing bilingual education programs throughout the state, which is a recommendation in its own report from December 2022. Bilingual programs produce high outcomes not just for MLs, but also for native English-speaking students – and they outperform traditional monolinguistic schools.
Maryland’s proposed literacy policy requires that schools retain students in third grade if they do not achieve proficiency on the Grade 3 English assessment. Our coalition is urging the state board to phase in the retention policy only after developing literacy strategies, providing classroom-based educators with professional training, allowing time to implement appropriate literacy instruction and inviting families to engage in the new initiative.
For decades, MLs have been woefully underserved in Maryland. As the fastest growing population in our schools, it is long overdue to deliver instruction and services tailored to their needs and assets. We applaud MSDE for soliciting input from our coalition and other organizations on the literacy policy. However, many families and teachers did not get the invitation or were not made aware of the opportunity to provide input.
Considering the state board postponed its vote on this policy, we encourage MSDE to intentionally reach out to those most impacted by this initiative to better understand the needs of our diverse families, students and educators. Let’s strive for a state with schools that serve the needs of every child, including our brilliant MLs.
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