Angélica Infante-Green has faced several challenges since becoming Rhode Island’s education commissioner in 2019. In November of that year, Infante-Green would spearhead the state’s controversial takeover of the ailing Providence School District. In 2020, she had to guide local schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, she faces uncertainty about her own future: Democratic gubernatorial nominee Helena Foulkes has pledged to replace her if elected in November.
Through it all, Infante-Green says her priority has been on improving student achievement statewide. The results on that front, as the latest RICAS scores show, have been mixed. Infante-Green spoke about those scores and other topics with Ocean State Media political reporter Ian Donnis.
Interview highlights
On the most significant changes that have happened during her tenure
Angélica Infante-Green: Well, there are quite a few, but there's some that I'm extremely proud of. The first is that we have the highest graduation rate than we've ever had on record for Rhode Island. It's so significant because we've changed our secondary (regulations), meaning that what students need to graduate now is more rigorous than before, and they're actually exceeding the graduation rate. So that is really important for me.
…School construction, that's a big deal for our state. It's about 50 new buildings across the state. The other piece is that we have trained almost every teacher – almost 11,000 teachers – on the science of reading… And we are knocking it out of the park with chronic absenteeism. We're the fifth state to have the most decline. We've done amazing things.
On the state’s low reading and math test scores
Infante-Green: As you see in other states, primarily Massachusetts, they have had a steady decline. As we have been increasing, they have been declining… Massachusetts is ranked number one in their state assessments, and they're just about maybe nine points higher than we are. This is the lowest achievement gap that we've had with them. We've been able to close it by 50%. Yes, they have had a decline, and we continue to increase, but this takes time. This is something that we've been pretty clear on. Every day we move one step closer to reaching our goals.
One other point that I think is important: every nation has seen reading go down, and one of the factors that they point to is social media, or unrestricted use of technology. Everybody is in this place with reading right now. So it's something that we really need to dedicate a lot of time and attention to.
On the effectiveness of the state intervention into Providence Public Schools
Infante-Green: Hindsight is always 20/20. The school board, I think, would've been a little different for us; the relationship with the school board. I also would've asked for staff in my office because I think we did this with no additional staff. I would've also asked for a longer timeframe because I think that that is important.
We all know that this takes time. This is decades of the system not working. But we have brand-new schools where the last new school that Providence had was (Providence Career and Technical Academy), and it was over 15 years ago. We had Windmill that had been closed for over 10 years, an abandoned school. It is a beautiful, state-of-the-art school at this moment. It is just unbelievable. I will tell you that when we took over, 37% of the student body was going to low-performing schools. Right now it's only 18%, so that is a win.
On the barriers to student achievement in Rhode Island
Infante-Green: The federal government administers a survey throughout the nation – it's really a high-risk survey – and our kids are struggling with mental health across the board. We also do one called SurveyWorks, and that data has been steady. We're very disappointed because in other measures we're moving up, but this data, where the kids are telling us that at least once or twice a week they don't feel like they're okay, that has not changed. That is a barrier for us to move forward. Our kids have to feel like they're in the right state of mind to be able to learn.
On the pledge by Democratic candidate for governor Helena Foulkes to replace Infante-Green as education commissioner
Infante-Green: I have not spoken to any of the candidates. My focus is the kids and what's happening, and I do that day-to-day. Politics are one thing, and that's aside. When the time comes, if there's an opportunity, we will (speak). But right now, my job is to be focused on the kids… We just brought in money for over $8 million for reading. We've brought in about $40 million for coaching. That's where my focus is. Every time I speak to someone, I say, "Hey, can you do this for me? Rhode Island needs this." I am very competitive, and I really want our state to have the best education system possible, and that's where my attention goes.
