Archived News/Announcements                                      

Year 2006  News And Announcements

2006 ACTFL Convention Schedule

2006 CLASS General Membership Meeting
Saturday, November 18, 2006
11 A.M. – 12:20 P.M. Music City Ballroom, Renaissance Nashville

Chinese Teaching Survey

Hanban Textbook Survey

NFLC Survey

5/2/2006

2005 CLASS NATIONAL ESSAY CONTEST RESULTS

The results are in -- congratulations to our winners and thank you to all who participated!

Download Sample Essays:

• Daichen Wei

• Kristina Kolesar

• Sophia Barnes

• N-9-12-Golden Apple

• Annie Ku

• Justin Wong
  

Award Categories: G=Golden Apple; S=Silver Apple; H= Honorable Mention; P= Participation
Committee members: Claire Cheng, San Francisco State University, Xiaolin Chang, Lowell High School, Catherine Yen, retired teacher

ChineseTeach Source
An Online Forum for Chinese Language Educators

Presented by Primary Source, this online bulletin board provides an online resource to:

• Share Chinese teaching materials, skills and experience
• Be informed of activities/events on Chinese language
• Be informed of some job opportunities on teaching Chinese
• Be updated on Chinese language AP course, teaching certification, etc.
• Stay current on news about Chinese language teaching in the U.S. and the world
• Establish professional connections
• and experience more in the field...

Visit the site at: http://chinese.primarysource.org
Primary Source's website: http://www.primarysource.org

CLASS US Educators Trip To China
An announcement of Three Traveling Groups in 2006 Supported by Hanban

For years, Chinese language teachers at American K-12 schools, both public and private, have wished that their superintendents, principals or supervisors could have the opportunity to visit China. Their hope has been that if administrators could experience China in person, they would realize the significance of teaching Chinese to today's young Americans and, in turn, lend their full support to existing Chinese programs. We are very pleased to announce that CLASS has received generous strong support from China’s National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language (Hanban) to make this long-standing wish become a reality to the schools of our members. The feedback received from the educators who attended the inaugurated US educator trip in 2005 was overwhelmingly positive. With the continuing financial support from Hanban, CLASS is able to expand this year’s educators' trip into three groups in the spring, summer, and winter. The travel dates are tentatively set for April 12-19, June 26-July 3, or December 8-15.

For more information, download the Announcement (PDF) and the Application (PDF)

Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative
U.S. Dept. of Education

Teacher-to-Teacher is the Department of Education's main outreach effort for teachers. Included in this effort are professional development workshops throughout the country and online eLearning opportunities. Teachers are able to count our workshops and online eLearning for professional development credit in all 50 states. Our workshops are led by teachers and principals from across the country who have applied to the Department to present as part of our Teacher Training Corps.

Given the President and Department's recent announcements about our interest in investing in foreign language study, I wanted to share the attached with you. Teacher-to-Teacher has plans to expand the foreign language component of our workshops, and would like to add more presenters to our Teacher Training Corps. In particular, in addition to our popular summer workshops where we offer professional development in all content areas in a series of regional workshops, we have started plans to conduct two workshops this summer in Mandarin Chinese. The call for proposals follows below. Following is also some general information about Teacher-to-Teacher as well. You can find the web site at: http://www.ed.gov/teachers/how/tools/initiative/index.html.

Teacher-to-Teacher Training Corps
Call for Trainers in Foreign Language and Mandarin Chinese

Last fall, the U.S. Department of Education announced the formation of the Teacher-to-Teacher Training Corps. The corps consists of effective teachers and practitioners who provide on-site technical assistance and regional workshops for teachers and school districts. This team is an expansion of the popular Teacher-to-Teacher Workshops that have been offered in cities across the nation for the past two summers.

The Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative is interested in expanding the number of foreign language trainers in the corps, particularly in Mandarin Chinese. We are looking for teachers and school leaders who use scientifically based research strategies and who have data to demonstrate effectiveness. Topics could include areas of high interest to all foreign language educators including classroom technology, student oral and written proficiency, language instruction across the curriculum and standards-based instruction, as well as topics that specifically address teaching elementary and secondary students of Mandarin Chinese.

Trainers will share the research underlying these practices and their experience with implementing them in classrooms and schools. The goal of the Teacher-to-Teacher Training Corps is to support district level professional development efforts by providing demonstrations by expert teacher and administrators of ways to improve student academic performance through increased content knowledge and improved pedagogical skill. Participants should leave sessions with ready-to-use strategies and an understanding of why and when those strategies are effective.

Members of the Teacher-to-Teacher Training Corps are eligible to participate in workshops for teachers during 2006. They are also eligible to make presentations at the Department¹s summer workshops in 2006 and special workshops focusing on foreign language and Mandarin Chinese.

The members of the corps support participants through e-mail mentoring, e-Learning presentations, webcasts and follow-up visits, some of which have already begun with the Teacher-to-Teacher workshop providers.

To apply for this corps, you must submit a complete proposal, which should include your PowerPoint presentation and handouts. In order to be considered for the Teacher-to-Teacher Training Corps, your proposal must be received by March 17, 2006. Please visit our Web site at http://www.ed.gov/teacherinitiative for additional information about submitting your presentation.

If you are selected, the U.S. Department of Education will provide travel, accommodations, and a $1,000 honorarium for planning, preparation and participation for each training event. You will have the flexibility to determine the level of your participation in workshops during 2006. Two workshops focusing on Mandarin Chinese are being planned for July.

GUIDELINES

• We are looking for presenters who weave content and pedagogy together.
• Each presentation should include relevant research.
• Each presentation should include evidence that your work has made a difference in student achievement.
• Each presentation should be interactive and use principles of adult learning.
• Each presentation should be 90 minutes long; however, you may be asked to adapt it to fit the needs of a district.
• If you work directly with students, you must be highly qualified according to your state's definition in order to participate. Please include proof of this with your application, as well as information about which foreign languages you instruct.

All presenters will be reviewed by the U.S. Department of Education.

More information on the Department¹s Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative is posted on the Web at http://www.ed.gov/teachers/how/tools/initiative/about/information.html. You may also wish to view workshop sessions from our e-Learning at http://www.paec.org/teacher2teacher/. Forward any questions to teacherquality@westat.com or call (888) 831-1338.

Please indicate the topic, language, and grade level(s) for your presentation.

The Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative is engaging the nation¹s best teachers and principals to share strategies for raising student achievement.

NEW! Teacher-to-Teacher Training Corps: The Corps invites effective teachers and practitioners experienced in scientifically based instruction to share what they¹ve learned with other teachers and district officials. Corps members will host regional workshops and provide on-site technical assistance, e-mail mentoring, webcasts and personal follow-up visits to other educators. They will also become eligible to lead presentations at the Department¹s 2006 summer workshops. For information about applying, contact www.ed.gov/teacherinitiative

Teacher Workshops: After an overwhelmingly positive response, the U.S. Department of Education hosted another series of free summer workshops in 2005 in Cincinnati, Minneapolis, San Jose, Phoenix, Tampa and Bethesda, Maryland. The sessions featured prominent teachers and principals sharing research-based practices they successfully applied in the classroom. Topics included research-based professional development, effective use of data, and teaching strategies to reach all students. Reading, mathematics, science, history and the arts were among the subjects covered.

eLearning: Designed for both teachers and principals, eLearning models successful classroom teaching strategies and supports mastery of academic content, combined with classroom application, follow-up activities and an online assessment. It¹s simple: access the website (www.ed.gov/teacherinitiative), enroll, complete the course, take an assessment, complete the follow-up activities, and incorporate what you learn in the classroom. Sessions are developed from the highly successful summer and fall workshops.

Teachers Ask the Secretary: This easy-to-use interactive feature (http://www.ed.gov/teachersask) allows teachers to ask questions of the Secretary of Education and obtain answers on a wide range of issues, including Hurricane Katrina response, teacher quality, professional development, and meeting state academic standards. The page will be regularly updated to cover as many topics as possible.

Hurricane Help for Schools: The Department of Education has launched the Hurricane Help for Schools webpage (www.ed.gov/katrina) to serve as a nationwide clearinghouse addressing the needs of the affected children and schools and districts serving displaced students.

Teacher Updates: Teachers may receive electronic updates from the Department of Education by signing up at www.ed.gov/teacherinitiative. These e-bytes address topics such as federal education policy and professional development opportunities, and provide links to classroom teaching and learning aids.

Teacher Roundtables: The Department has hosted numerous teacher roundtables on various subjects so Department officials could listen to and interact with educators.

American Stars: American Stars in Teaching recognizes and honors superior teachers with a track record of improving student achievement, using innovative instructional strategies and making a difference in the lives of their students. Candidates may be nominated by anyone -- parents, principals, school officials or former students. Names of the 2005 awardees will be posted in October; nominations for 2006 open in January. To nominate a teacher or learn about previous awardees, go to http://www.ed.gov/teachers/how/tools/initiative/american-stars.html

AP Chinese Language and Culture Course Description Draft Completed

From the College Board:

We have very exciting news! The draft version of the AP Chinese Language and Culture Course Description is now posted on the AP Chinese home page on AP Central: http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/chinese

The draft version has been posted on AP Central to accommodate administrators and educators who need this course information in hand now as they move towards applying, approving, and setting up AP Chinese Language and Culture courses in their schools for the 2006-2007 academic year. Please note that you will need to be registered (instructions are below) and logged into AP Central to view the course description. The final version of the AP Chinese Language and Culture Course Description will be available May 2006.

First Course - 2006-2007
First Exam - May 2007

In addition, the College Board is offering a variety of 1-Day AP and Pre-AP professional development activities during the academic year in addition to several five-day summer institutes for teachers who are preparing to implement AP Chinese Language and Culture Courses. View the National Brochure for Chinese and Japanese Professional Development brochure (http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/repository/ap05_chin_japa_pdeven_48941.pdf) for a complete listing of all College Board AP Chinese and AP Japanese events across the nation that will be held during the school year. You may search for all AP Chinese events near you using the Institutes and Workshops tool or visit www.collegeboard.com/meetings. Online registration is available by visiting the "Institutes and Workshops" section of AP Central. Please note that space is limited for all events so register early.

Here is a list of the upcoming 2005-2006 Professional Development One-Day Workshops for teachers of Chinese:

AP Chinese Language and Culture*

• Saturday, March 4, 2006 - Chapman University, Orange, CA
• Friday, March 10, 2006 - University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA
• Saturday, March 11, 2006 - Las Lomas HS, Walnut Creek, CA
• Saturday, March 11, 2006 - Randallstown High School, Randallstown, MD
• Wednesday, March 15, 2006 - Triton College, River Grove, IL
• Thursday, March 23, 2006 - Sheraton San Diego Hotel and Marina, San Diego, CA
• Thursday, March 30, 2006 - The Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, Marriott Marquis Hotel, New York, NY (Register with NECTFL at: http://www.dickinson.edu/nectfl/)
• Saturday April 22, 2006 - Hilton Austin Airport Hotel, Austin, TX
• Thursday, May 4, 2006 - New England Regional Office of the College Board, Waltham, MA
• July 12 - 16, 2006 - AP Annual Conference, Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin, Lake Buena Vista, FL ( http://www.collegeboard.com/apac/2006/ )

Pre-AP: Topics for AP Vertical Teams(r) in World Languages*

• Thursday, January 26, 2006 - Omni San Antonio Hotel, San Antonio, TX
• Thursday, March 30, 2006 - The Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, Marriott Marquis Hotel, New York, NY (Register with NECTFL at: (http://www.dickinson.edu/nectfl/)
• July 12 - 16, 2006 - AP Annual Conference, Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin, Lake Buena Vista, FL (http://www.collegeboard.com/apac/2006/)

*Other sites may be added. Visit the Institutes and Workshops section of AP Central for site locations and dates. Workshops are open to the public. Please share the workshop calendar and registration information with your colleagues who may be interested in attending one of these professional development events.

2006 Professional Development 5-Day Summer Institutes for Chinese Teachers

• AP Chinese Language & Culture
• Pre-AP Strategies for Chinese Language & Culture

Complete details about AP and Pre-AP Summer Institute locations, dates, and registration will be posted on AP Central as soon as it becomes available.

Please note the next issue of the AP Chinese e-newsletter will be emailed on February 22, 2006. If you are not already registered for the AP Chinese newsletter, register (free) on AP Central today in order to receive tomorrow's edition. When you first open the AP Central website, you will see the following in the upper left-hand corner:

You are not logged in....Register or Login?

Please click on Register and follow the directions. You must check the e-newsletter option at the bottom of the registration page to receive newsletter updates related to AP Chinese.

Please visit http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/chinese often for the most up-to-date information. If you have further questions, please write us at apchinese@collegeboard.org.

From the ACTFL Newsletter (Jan 6, 2006):

President Bush Brings Languages Front and Center

The Bush Administration has made a significant commitment to bolstering language education initiatives in the United States. At a State Dept. briefing on January 5, the President announced plans for an initial investment of $114 million to expand some programs and start some others, all with an eye to strengthening American national security. Part of the plan will involve language learning for children as early as kindergarten, while other parts will expand opportunities for postsecondary study.

Particularly important to administration officials is a concerted effort toward boosting programs in Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Russian and Farsi, since the dynamics of current world politics and economics have highlighted U.S. shortages of people capable of communicating in those languages. In addition, plans include bringing more language professionals into government service and establishing a national corps of language reservists. For a more complete description of the President's speech, click here to go to the ACTFL website.

The briefing was attended by ACTFL Executive Director Bret Lovejoy and Director of Education Marty Abbott. Clearly, this new focus creates substantial opportunity for educators of all languages and at all levels. It is in our best interests to be involved in planning from the earliest stages, so that programs reflect what we know to be the realities of delivering successful language instruction. ACTFL is involved in dialogues with the Departments of State, Defense and Education to plan how the language education community can play an important role in moving these initiatives forward. Check the ACTFL Web site for more information in the coming months.