STARTALK Updates: 2010 & 2011
2010 NCSSFL Meeting
Shuhan Wang, PhD
November 18, 2010
2011 STARTALK2011 Competition: October 4 – 31
Arabic Portuguese: teacher/combinationChinese Russian + studentDari + student SwahiliHindi TurkishPersian Urdu
2010: 134 Programs
Student Teacher Combined TOTALArabic 19 13 1 33Chinese 47 37 7 91Dari 0 4 0 4Hindi 12 8 0 20Persian 3 6 0 9Russian 0 6 0 6Swahili 3 3 0 6Turkish 2 3 0 5Urdu 3 5 0 8
2010 Enrollments
Language Students Teachers TotalArabic 603 263 866Chinese 3026 1401 4427Dari 0 2 2Hindi 386 80 466Persian 132 50 182Russian 0 44 44Swahili 27 11 38Turkish 31 15 46Urdu 39 15 54Total 4244 1881 6125
Student Programs by Grade Level
2010 Distribution of Programs
STARTALK Products as Resources
• Materials Collection– Resources for Teacher Development– Planning tools for teachers– Resource List: generic and language specific– Curriculum, unit, and lesson templates & guides
• 10 Teacher Training Videos sample• 12 Teacher Multimedia Workshops• Field Trip Paper & Guide
A serious domestic and international World Language Education Gap in the United States
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Demands for World Language Education in the US Have Expanded and Changed
• Immersion and early language learning programs: Not just in high schools
• Emergent world languages: Not just traditionally taught languages
• Demonstrated student proficiency outcomes: Not just for exposure and a “taste” for different cultures
• Expanded delivery system and technological use in the classroom: Not just face to face and textbook-driven language learning
Require Language Study as part of the New Basic Skill Set
• Meaningful language study becomes part of the US educational programs
• Students’ learning outcomes in language study to be part of the accountability at the state or federal level
• Expand the increasingly narrowing world language offerings—to ensure linguistic diversity
Our Vision: An Additive Language Policy for All Students
Five Goals :(1) increase the number and effectiveness of language
education programs; (2) expand the range of languages offered; (3) begin language instruction at a younger age and
continue through a longer, articulated sequence; (4) establish clear expectations for students’ language
learning outcomes; and (5) expand access and opportunity to learn via both
traditional and innovative delivery systems.
An Agenda for Transforming World Language Education
Adapting to a Changing World
• Our outdated, fragmented, and inflexible system for producing world language teachers must be replaced by an expanded system responsive to our nation’s needs in the global age.
Big Questions to Answer:
1. What does it mean to be a highly effective world language teacher? What are the competencies (such as linguistic proficiency, content knowledge, and pedagogical skills) that world language teachers must possess and demonstrate to enable their students to attain high learning outcomes?
Big Questions to Answer:
2. What does it take to produce a highly effective world language teacher? Given an expanded and heterogeneous pool of prospective teachers, what kinds of preparation and certification programs must be in place to produce a sufficient number of effective world language teachers who can meet the increasing demand for varied world language programs?
Big Questions to Answer:
3. How can we, as a society, leverage resources across federal, state, local, and institutional boundaries to ensure that the supply of world language teachers meets the demand?
Seven Aspects of the teacher supply system
Teacher Com-
petencies
Certification
Capacity &
Quality
Data Collection
& Evaluation
Partner-ships
Available Tools for Determining Teacher Competencies: Need Coordination & Dialogues
Student Content
Standards
Teacher Standards (ACTFL/NCATE, INTASC, NPBTS,
TEAC)
ILR/ACTFL Proficiency
Scale
Assessments for Language &
Pedagogical Skills
Continuum of Teacher Development & Life Cycle of a WL Teacher
• Teacher Recruitment
• Teacher Preparation
• Certification/ Licensure
• Induction, PD & Lifelong Learning
Aspiring individuals Candidates/
Apprentices
Novice teachers
PracticingMaster/Teacher trainers
Recommendations• State government, education, and certification
agencies• Local education agencies• Institutions of higher education and teacher
education programs• National and Professional Organizations and
Institutes• Federal government
Consortium of Language Program DatabasesA STARTALK INITIATIVE
Partnering for the future:
Creating greater access to language programinformation through technology
ACTFL Assessment of Performance toward
Proficiency in Languages
• ACTFL is under contract from NFLC• ACTFL will provide an assessment of Chinese• Interpersonal Listening/Speaking• Novice Level• Piloted in the summer of 2010• Will deliver December 2010