CAL Survey of Program Directors Margaret E. Malone Julie Sugarman October 16, 2009

Background  Survey of all program directors  80% or more responded  Asked both Likert-scale and open-ended questions about the program director experience

Recommendation #1: The STARTALK Mission Issue: Confusion regarding the STARTALK mission with respect to the types of programs that are funded and supported Recommendations:  Clearly define what STARTALK means by standards-based and communicative language teaching and be sure all stakeholders have a shared understanding of what these mean for STARTALK programs Ensure that the curriculum template and the site visitor template are appropriate for programs with different goals and serving different age groups, and, if necessary, create additional templates that better reflect each type

Recommendation #2: Procedures Issue: The volume of paperwork, confusion regarding procedures and deadlines Recommendations:  Streamline paperwork and procedures in order to minimize redundancy and the time needed to respond to STARTALK and NSA requests  Provide a calendar with fixed or relative dates common to all STARTALK programs

Recommendation #3: Communication Issue: Uncertainty regarding the lines of communication and responsibility among STARTALK Central, program directors, site visitors, and team leaders Recommendations:  Ensure team leaders understand their roles and responsibilities, particularly with regard to what level of interaction with programs they ought to have prior to the start of the program and before and after site visits  Create technological or face-to-face opportunities for program directors to network with each other and to share ideas and resources

Recommendation #4: Technology Issue: Technological limitations at some sites, problems with LinguaFolio and/or program surveys Recommendations:  Be aware of technological limitations at some program sites such as restricted internet access or sensitivities to providing addresses for primary-aged students  Consider the relevance of LinguaFolio for short programs and programs with various age groups or proficiency levels  Increase the window of time that participants are able to access the pre- and post-program surveys in order to accommodate technical limitations onsite

Pre and post program surveys  Focus on teacher programs

Who participated in the teacher program?  20% are native speakers of English  9% were born in the United States  82% are female  18% live in CA; 8% in VA; 7% in IL

TEACHER Programs: Who participated?

TEACHER Program: Who participated?

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 A well-educated and ambitious group!

TEACHER Program: Who participated?

What did the teacher trainees learn? Question: What are/were you interested in learning about? 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

What did the teacher trainees think about the program?  Supportive institutions (99%)  Knowledgeable instructors (99%)  Adequate materials (93.7%)

Pre and post survey of participants  Focus on students

How do our students feel about learning languages?  96% enjoy learning and speaking languages  85-86% enjoy reading and writing languages What does this mean?

How do our students feel about languages?  Over 90% expressed positive feelings towards learning languages and interacting with people from different cultures  89% believe that learning another language will help them do better in school  98% believe that learning another language will help them get a better job in the future

How many of our students plan to continue to study the language?  78% of our students plan to continue to study the language this fall!

What did the students think about the program? Agree or Strongly Agree My teacher taught the target language very well. (N=1823) 96.9% The books we used in class were helpful. (N=1799) 81.9% My teacher helped me to learn the target language. (N=1820) 97% I learned a lot of language this summer. (N=1822) 89.9% Learning a language during the summer was a good experience. (N=1817) 94.3% The field trips we took were helpful for my language learning. (N=1757) 74.8% Multimedia resources (computer, Internet, videos, DVDs) were available to help my learning. (N=1815) 87.7% Multimedia resources were useful in developing my language skills. (N=1810) 85.4%

What did the students think about the program? Agree or Strongly Agree My teacher taught the target language very well. (N=1823) 96.9% The books we used in class were helpful. (N=1799) 81.9% My teacher helped me to learn the target language. (N=1820) 97% I learned a lot of language this summer. (N=1822) 89.9% Learning a language during the summer was a good experience. (N=1817) 94.3% The field trips we took were helpful for my language learning. (N=1757) 74.8% Multimedia resources (computer, Internet, videos, DVDs) were available to help my learning. (N=1815) 87.7% Multimedia resources were useful in developing my language skills. (N=1810) 85.4%

Questions and reactions?