PROVIDENCE – Gov. Daniel J. McKee on Wednesday spent his 100th day in office launching a new strategy slated to help boost education across the state and exceed Massachusetts’ academic levels by 2030.
McKee’s “Learn 365 RI” plan calls for a shift in education beyond the 180 days of traditional learning in classrooms. It proposes a statewide goal to add cumulatively at least 1 million hours of out-of-school learning time per year.
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To reach this goal, McKee announced that he is allocating $4 million in the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Funds given by the federal government to state governors to help students and families recover from the impact of COVID-19 on education. McKee also announced the launch of the Learn 365 RI Municipal Compact, an agreement that commits cities and towns to create learning opportunities to support and enhance efforts both inside and outside of the traditional school settings to improve student outcomes. The compact also gives a menu of actions that municipal leaders can take.
McKee said if 20,000 Rhode Island students add about an hour per week of out-of-school learning, that would equal 1 million hours of extra learning.
“Successfully meeting this threshold will drive increases in achievement so that by the end of the decade we will deliver best in class statewide academic achievement results,” McKee said in his speech. “And we know it can happen because in many cases, we have the puzzle pieces already – we just need to be strategic about how we put them together.”
McKee used school vacation-week camps as examples of how learning extends outside the classroom such as weeklong boot camp at the Boys & Girls Club of Northern Rhode Island, where several dozen fourth and fifth graders as studying math each day and in Providence where nearly 3,000 students have opted to spend their April break engaging in meaningful learning.
“These are great models of local community collaboration to extend learning from the traditional school day to year-round learning,” McKee said. “As a mayor, I saw it firsthand in my own town of Cumberland where we opened the state’s first Mayor’s Office of Children, Youth & Learning that helped kids in math, reading, STEM [science, technology, engineering and math], leadership, SAT prep and so much more.”
McKee also said the progress of the Learn 365 RI strategy will be measured across three metrics: Rhode Island Common Assessment System math and English language arts scores, student attendance and Free Application for Federal Student Aid completion.
“Whether it’s the kids in kindergarten who are showing up to school with fewer social and academic skills; or the middle schoolers showing higher signs of anxiety and depression; or high school students who are struggling to make it to graduation,” McKee said. “We know that it will take about three to five years to recover from the impact of the pandemic when it comes to education. We also know that schools can’t shoulder the entire weight of getting us back on track and beyond. We need reinforcements – statewide and community wide.”
In the coming weeks, McKee said the state will formally release the Learn 365 RI request for proposals to make this funding available to any Rhode Island city or town that signs the compact.
“Every day is a new chance for our children to learn and grow, and the Learn 365 RI model will help families seize that opportunity,” Lt. Gov. Sabina Matos said in a statement. “I encourage all of Rhode Island’s local leaders to join the Learn 365 Municipal Compact and to help us build a statewide system of out-of-school educational programs. Together, we can give every Rhode Island student the high-quality education they deserve and put them on a path to lifelong success.”
