Languages other than English Houston Independent School District Secondary Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment

LOTE Programs in HISD FLES programs (Foreign Language in Elementary School) Sequential Foreign Language Programs (Middle School) Advanced Placement Programs (Mostly high schools and AP Spanish Language in Some Middle Schools) IB Program Spanish courses for heritage learners

Languages offered in the District 1. Spanish: French: Chinese: German: Japanese: Russian: Latin: Italian: Hebrew: Hindi: Arabic: American Sign Language (ASL) Total of students taking a language other than English: 40008

Language Magnet programs Kolter Elementary School: Spanish, French, Chinese and Japanese Pin Oak Middle School: Spanish, French, Chinese, Latin, Italian and Hebrew Bellaire High School: Spanish, French, Chinese, German, Japanese, Russian, Latin, Italian, Hebrew, Hindi and Arabic

Language programs in other schools All HISD high schools offer Spanish 22 High Schools offer French 5 High schools offer more than two languages Most of the Middle Schools offer Spanish 8 Middle schools offer French 3 middle schools offer more than two languages

Number of teachers per language 1. Spanish: French: Chinese: 7 4. German: 6 5. Japanese: 5 6. Russian: 2 7. Latin: 4 8. Italian: 3 9. Hebrew: Hindi: Arabic: American Sign Language (ASL): Elementary LOTE teachers: 10 Total number of LOTE teachers: 271

What happened in Secondary Languages other than English for ? All Horizontal Alignment Planning Guides (HAPG’s) for Heritage learner courses level 1 and 2 were redefined and posted in June 2009 Job Alike Day 2008 : 175 teachers attending CELC 2009: 250 teachers attending Empowering teachers to be leaders, sharing best practices. Department Chair meetings. 2 language teacher trainings in Spanish and French Schools visits and on-site campus trainings when required Networking opportunities with several local and national organizations Tour Program for U.S. Educators in Japan

AP Spanish Language in 8 th grade Number of Middle Schools 4567 Number of teachers 4569 Number of students taking the course Number of students getting 4 HS credits

Program Benefits Enhanced self-confidence Improved performance in other classes Increased enrollment in honors /AP classes Fewer disciplinary problems and absences Enhanced perception of college as a realistic goal Improved skills that transfer to other courses and test-taking experience Parents become more involved in their children’s schools

What is happening in Secondary Languages other than English (LOTE) for ? Curriculum All Horizontal Alignment Planning Guides (HAPG’s) for Heritage learner courses level 1 and 2 were redefined and posted in June 2009 Power objectives for levels I to IV were identified and aligned to the TEKS for LOTE Regular levels I to IV HAPG’s will be enhanced and redefined, integrating Marzano and Literacy leads the way strategies Resource column in the HAPG’s will be improved by adding teaching resources in different languages taught in the district Professional Development Planning and developing the Core Enrichment Learning Communities conference for all LOTE teachers Providing support for new teachers through several meetings during the year (ABRAZO) Two Spanish and French trainings offered through e- train. They will be providing teachers with strategies to improve their daily practices 3 meetings with Department chairs to discuss and assess curriculum enhancements Instruction Meetings with teachers of Chinese and Japanese to inform them about professional organizations and resource centers. Networking with local organizations such as Asia Society, Japan Foundation and Consulates to find out opportunities for teachers and students to practice the target language Empowering teachers to become leaders by presenting and sharing best practices Strategic integration of Marzano and LLTW strategies into all LOTE curriculum documents and professional development seminars Assessment Assessment for Learning Connections in HAPG’s. Each document will contain at least one formative assessment. Pre-AP and AP Spanish support in order to help teachers keep up with the new changes of the exam Increase the number of HISD students participating in Local language competitions such as the Farrington contest, The Spanish exam, The French Symposium, etc Continue visiting schools when invited to assess the effectiveness of the programs and support teachers

Five years from now… Enhance all curriculum documents by providing more resources in all the languages taught in the District Increase the number and improve results of Middle Schools offering the AP Spanish Language class. Increase the number of Elementary schools offering FLES programs Network with other organizations to provide opportunities for teachers and students to practice the target languages Create language competitions within the district and encourage schools to participate at local and national levels

Potential barriers/challenges Budget limitations LOTE Specialist/ Elementary LOTE Manager Administrators and schools support Teachers’ preparation and commitment

Proposed solutions Get funding through other organizations or grants and possible increase on budget string for LOTE Data will evidence the need of a LOTE Specialist Continued assistance to schools and LOTE faculty Empowering teachers to be leaders sharing their best practices

Assessment Assessment FOR Learning Assessment OF Learning

Define Summative and Formative Assessment Using Frayer Models

Research behind Formative Assessments: Research indicates that formative assessments can significantly improve student learning. Yet, this same research shows that the features of formative assessment that affect student achievement are missing from many classrooms (Black et al., 2003). (Black, P. Harrison, C, Lee, C., Marshall, B., William, D. (2003). Assessment for learning. Berkshire, England: Open Univ. Press)

Summary Frames The purpose of Formative Assessment (Assessment FOR Learning) is to _______. The purpose of Formative Assessment (Assessment FOR Learning) is to _______. The purpose of Summative Assessment (Assessment OF Learning) is to _______. The purpose of Summative Assessment (Assessment OF Learning) is to _______. Formative and Summative Assessment are alike in that they both _______. Formative and Summative Assessment are alike in that they both _______.