ALL STUDENTS COUNT ACT
In 2017, working in coalition with Providence Youth Student Movement and other organizations, ARISE passed the "All Students Count Act" for data disaggregation in Rhode Island [House Bill 5453; Senate Bill 439]. Rhode Island is the third state in the country to pass this law!
The aggregation of academic achievement data under "Asian American" has overshadowed the real experiences of the many subgroups within the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) population. There are 48 different subgroups within the AAPI who have different cultures, languages, class and educational experiences, and immigration histories.
The "All Students Count Act" mandates the disaggregation of data in the schools to better understand the educational experiences of the many subgroups within the AAPI population. The act requires the Rhode Island Department of Education to report more enhanced, segmented data at the K-12 levels for their annual state report cards. These data will include the following ethnic categories: Vietnamese, Cambodian, Laotian, and Hmong. They will also include cross-tabulated data of student outcome by gender, disability, and English proficiency.
Because of this work, ARISE is a leader today in the national movement for data disaggregation.
