National Standards Update: Your Input Needed! Marty Abbott, Director of Education American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Helene Zimmer-Loew, Executive Director American Association for Teachers of German (AATG) SWCOLT Conference Salt Lake City Februrary 29, 2008

THE NATIONAL STANDARDS IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATION PROJECT A Collaborative Project of ACTFL, AATF, AATG, AATI, AATSP, ACL/APA, ACTR, CLASS, & NCJLT)

Foreign Language Collaborative Projects 1993Federal funding received to develop national standards for students K Publication of generic standards. 1999Publication of language-specific standards in Chinese, Classical Languages, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish; (seven languages developed K-16)

More Language-specific Standards ArabicPublished 2006 ArabicPublished 2006 African Languages—Swahili, Yoruba, and Zulu [in development] African Languages—Swahili, Yoruba, and Zulu [in development] Hindi [in development] Hindi [in development] American Sign Language (ASL) [in development] American Sign Language (ASL) [in development] Need to include more Critical Need Languages Need to include more Critical Need Languages

ACTFL PERFORMANCE GUIDELINES FOR K-12 LEARNERS

Benchmarks Novice Learner Range Novice Learner Range Parallels Novice High in ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines(K – 4, 5 – 8, 9 – 10) Parallels Novice High in ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines(K – 4, 5 – 8, 9 – 10) Intermediate Learner Range Intermediate Learner Range Parallels Intermediate Mid in ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines (K-8, 5-12, 9-12) Parallels Intermediate Mid in ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines (K-8, 5-12, 9-12) Pre-advanced Learner Range Pre-advanced Learner Range Parallels Intermediate High in ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines (K-12) Parallels Intermediate High in ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines (K-12)

Domains Comprehensibility How well is the student understood? Comprehensibility How well is the student understood? Comprehension How well does the student understand? Comprehension How well does the student understand? Language Control How accurate is the student’s language? Language Control How accurate is the student’s language? Vocabulary How extensive and applicable is the student’s vocabulary? Vocabulary How extensive and applicable is the student’s vocabulary? Cultural Awareness How is the student’s cultural knowledge reflected in language use? Cultural Awareness How is the student’s cultural knowledge reflected in language use? Communication Strategies How does the student maintain communication? Communication Strategies How does the student maintain communication?

Integrated Performance Assessment (IPA) Project I P A

What is an IPA? Authentic Authentic Reflects tasks that individuals do in the world outside the classroom Reflects tasks that individuals do in the world outside the classroom Performance-Based Performance-Based Reflect how students USE the language and cultural knowledge in communicative tasks Reflect how students USE the language and cultural knowledge in communicative tasks Integrated Integrated Integrates Communication plus other goal areas of the Standards Integrates Communication plus other goal areas of the Standards Developmental Progress of Proficiency Developmental Progress of Proficiency Novice Intermediate Pre-advanced Novice Intermediate Pre-advanced Blend with Classroom Instruction and Experiences Blend with Classroom Instruction and Experiences Based on the 3 Modes of Communication Based on the 3 Modes of Communication InterpretiveInterpersonalPresentational InterpretiveInterpersonalPresentational I P A

The FL NAEP Assessment Framework Visual

National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education

NCATE  determines which colleges of education meet rigorous national standards in preparing teachers and other classroom specialists.  is a coalition of 33 national education organizations representing teachers, teacher educators, subject matter specialists, and policy makers.

NCATE 2000 Unit Standards  are performance-based—radical departure from input-based system  focus on what teacher candidates should know and be able to do  require institutions to show candidate performance data

Required Program Components Development of proficiency, especially oral Development of proficiency, especially oral Ongoing assessment of proficiency Ongoing assessment of proficiency Language, linguistics, culture, & literature components Language, linguistics, culture, & literature components Methods course: on teaching of foreign languages, taught by qualified faculty Methods course: on teaching of foreign languages, taught by qualified faculty

Program Components cont’d. Early field experiences in foreign language classrooms Early field experiences in foreign language classrooms Field experiences supervised by qualified faculty Field experiences supervised by qualified faculty Opportunities for candidates to experience and use technology Opportunities for candidates to experience and use technology Opportunities for structured study- abroad/immersion experiences Opportunities for structured study- abroad/immersion experiences

INTASC

INTASC: Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium  Program of the Council of Chief State School Officers  Established to promote collaboration among states in standards-based reform of teacher preparation, licensing, and professional development  Centered around performance-based standards and assessments  Compatible with the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards

National Certification for Teachers of World Languages Other than English Designed to recognize accomplished practice in the field Designed to recognize accomplished practice in the field Standards adopted in 2001 Standards adopted in 2001 WLOTE Certificates: WLOTE Certificates: Currently available in French and Spanish Currently available in French and Spanish Early Adolescence through Young Adulthood (ages ) Early Adolescence through Young Adulthood (ages ) Revision of standards underway Revision of standards underway More certificates available in the future More certificates available in the future

ACTFL Assessment for the Performance and Proficiency of Language (AAPPL)

Grade Clusters and Proficiency Ranges Grade Clusters Grade Clusters PK - 7 PK Proficiency Ranges Proficiency Ranges Advanced Low - Superior Advanced Low - Superior Intermediate Mid - Advanced Low Intermediate Mid - Advanced Low Novice High - Intermediate Mid Novice High - Intermediate Mid Novice Low - Novice High Novice Low - Novice High

Report Example Novice Low Novice Mid Novice High …provides evidence of the ability to understand short, disconnected utterances within highly predictable and familiar contexts. Comprehension often depends on recognizing memorized words and phrases, …provides evidence of the ability to understand short, simple speech with memorized words and phrases on highly predictable and familiar topics most often related to self. …provides evidence of the ability understand simple speech with memorized phrases on familiar subjects. Can understand speech on content that has been previously seen or heard. Understanding Sean’s performance Sean’s performance falls in the Novice Mid range. He can understand conversations and recorded materials in familiar contexts. He relies heavily on memorized words, phrases, and structures and expends enormous effort to accomplish these listening tasks. Next Steps Language learners at this level would benefit from increasing their exposure to spoken language in live and recorded oral texts. Listening should focus on understanding key words and main ideas. Sources for listening practice include level appropriate texts that are related to academic content as well as individual student interests. Sean’s performance

Situation: Your Chinese class is partnering with a social studies class on a project designed to encourage Chinese- speaking people in the community to vote in the upcoming mayoral election. You’ve agreed to make signs to be placed around community showing each candidate’s priorities. The social studies team has come up with graphics for each sign. Task: Place the Chinese text next to the matching graphics. Type of Response: Modified selected response VOTE!

ACTFL PERFORMANCE GUIDELINES FOR K-12 LEARNERS Integrated Performance Assessment (IPA) INTASC

Impact of the Standards State Frameworks State Frameworks Local curricula Local curricula Assessments Assessments AAPPL (Assessment for Performance and Proficiency of Languages) Project AAPPL (Assessment for Performance and Proficiency of Languages) Project Individual classrooms—Annenberg video library Individual classrooms—Annenberg video library

Need to address lack of impact on instruction Only 16 states have some kind of graduation requirement in languages Only 16 states have some kind of graduation requirement in languages Several states are pushing for proficiency exit standard rather than “seat time” Several states are pushing for proficiency exit standard rather than “seat time” IRS (USED) grant application to assess impact of standards IRS (USED) grant application to assess impact of standards

Issues to Consider Do the Goal Areas (5 C’s) or the Standards need revisions? What has the impact been on institutions of higher education? What kind of professional development is needed for teachers? Can standards-based assessments drive changes in instruction?