Life Cycle of a Teacher: A STARTALK Perspective

Catherine Ingold, Ph.D. Director

Shuhan C. Wang, Ph.D.Deputy Director

National Foreign Language CenterUniversity of Maryland

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Overview

• Life cycle of a world/foreign language teacher

• STARTALK’s vision for teacher supply system

• Lessons learned from STARTALK

• Future initiatives

Two STARTALK Goals for Teachers

• LCTLs• Different program types

(immersion, online, etc.)Increase quantity

• Teacher effectiveness • Standards- and performance-

based, student-centeredEnhance quality

• Certification/Licensure

• Professional Development & Life Long Learning

• Teacher Preparation

• Teacher Recruitment

Aspiring individuals Teacher

candidates/Apprentices

Novice teachersPracticing/Master/Teacher trainers

Life Cycle of a WL Teacher

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Improve a Supply System of Highly Effective World Language

Teachers

Individual Needs & local

demands

State Certification

Prep &

support

STARTALK Impact: Teacher Programs

# of Teacher Programs 2007 2008 2009

Arabic 13 16 18Chinese 17 27 33Hindi 5 5Persian 2 4Urdu 3 4Swahili 2Turkish 2Total 30 53 68

Teacher Participants

# of Teacher Participants 2007 2008 2009Arabic 156 293 317Chinese 292 702 776Hindi 35 48Persian 2 29Urdu 6 13Swahili 9Turkish 1Total 448 1038 1193

2009 STARTALK Teacher Profile

• 17% are native speakers of English

• 92% list the target language as their native language

• 6% were born in the United States

• 86% are female

• 38% of the 2007 participants returned in 2008

• 18% live in CA; 8% in VA; 7% IL

Teacher Programs: Language Backgrounds

Age Group Distribution

Educational Background & Credentials

Educational Background:

–93% have at least a bachelor’s degree

–46% have a master’s degree

–5% have a doctorate degree

Certification:

–17.2% are already certified

–56% plan to become certified

Professional Experiences

What Did They Need?

• Pedagogical/descriptive linguistics/culture

• Standards-based curriculum design • Communicative teaching methods• Assessment skills• English for professional purposes• Classroom management, US

educational system and culture• Appropriate paths to certification

Lessons Learned: Participants’ Evaluation of the

Programs

• Supportive institutions (99%)

• Knowledgeable instructors (99%)

• Adequate materials (93.7%)

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Key Administrative Elements

• Opportunities to observe master teachers in actual classrooms and via video clips

• Opportunities to engage in practice teaching and/or micro teaching

• Close collaboration between teacher and student program

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Curriculum

• Balance of theory and practice• Course work relevant to participant needs and

aligned with program goals• A focus on communicative language pedagogy

and assessment, with the National Foreign Language Standards as a foundation

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Instruction and Assessment (1)

• Differentiation of instruction to match participants and their needs

• Opportunities to collaborate to create instructional units, lessons, activities, and/or assessment

• Micro-teaching with peer and instructor feedback• Modeling of best practices or activities in

classroom instruction

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Instruction and Assessment (2)

• Resources that teachers can use

• Adequate time for reflection via journaling, discussions, and idea sharing, and providing timely feedback on the work/journals

• Opportunities to share their own work • Fostering of a community of learners

Greatest Pre/Post-Program Gains in:

–Writing an effective lesson plan–Grouping students in different ways

(small group, pairs, full-class)–Setting reasonable expectations for

students–Providing students with appropriate

feedback

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Teacher Certification: A National Issue

– Each state has its own requirements

– Count seat time instead of competency

– Inadequate or inappropriate requirements to certify native speakers of the language

– Inflexible program design

– NCLB complicates the problem

Mentoring, Retention, & Professional Development

• States are increasing efforts to address the issues of LCTL teachers and their needs

• There is not much of a system in place to work with LCTL teachers

• Language specific professional organizations take the responsibility, should work with state and local educational agencies

• Need mentors who understand language-specific issues, needs, and K-16 contexts

How Can We Address WL Teacher Issues?

• Alternative routes to certification– Address their gaps– Capitalize on their skills and experience

• Opportunities for observation and mentored practice (summer and other)

• Access to workshops or networks (summer, DL/BL)

• Virtual/local communities of practice

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NFLC/STARTALK Certification Summit

• December 9-11, 2009 in Arlington, VA

• Invitation Only: 100 participants– States sending teams (Policy maker, WL

consultant, Certification officer, Higher Ed rep); government observers;

– business leaders; – professional organizations

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NFLC/STARTALK Certification Summit

Expected Outcomes: to create: • a common vision for developing a

linguistically and culturally competent citizenry;

• a shared knowledge base of information and resources from all participating stakeholders; and

• a set of recommendations and action plans on the national and state levels to address the shortage and effectiveness of world language teachers.

STARTALK Teacher Development Library:

Available in Spring 2010

• Classroom Videos • Online Multimedia Teacher Development Workshops

• 12 institutions

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Useful Resources

• National Foreign Language Center at UMD startalk@nflc.org

• National Council of State Supervisors For Languages http://www.NCSSFL.org go to the State Report page for certification requirements; also has the contact information of the state supervisor of the states listed

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Questions or Comments?

Thank you!

Contact Us: Catherine Ingold

cwingold@nflc.org

Shuhan C. Wangswang@nflc.org