District Administration - February 2012 - (Page 16)

NewsUpdate Br iefings Loss of FLAP Funding Halts Foreign Language Assessments WHiLE in THE FOurTH yEAr of a five-year Foreign Language Assistance Program (FLAP) federal grant, the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) learned in late December that Congress had cut the grant’s final year of funding. ACTFL had used its portion of the grant, which was created to improve innovative foreign language programs, to develop nationally recognized language assessments. Consequently, four years’ worth of work developing these tests assessments would go unfinished. While the language programs in districts will continue, many teachers may lose their jobs and the assessments, which were intended to gauge students’ progress and assist in higher education placement, will remain unfinished. “We’re very disappointed,” says Marty Abbott, executive director of ACTFL. “The rug has been pulled out from underneath these districts that receive FLAP funding for their programs.” One of ACTFL’s partner districts is Glastonbury (Conn.) Public Schools. According to rita Oleksak, foreign language director in Glastonbury, students from her schools and other districts with Glastonbury (Conn.) Public School students visit their exchange partners in Tai’an #1 Middle School in the Chinese Shandong Province. The district was named a Confucius Classroom for its robust language program, which is now at risk since the FLAP funding was cut by Congress. high-performing foreign language programs have had to jump through hoops in the past when they enter college to prove they can handle a higher-level course because there are no nationally recognized assessments to place them. On Dec. 15, Glastonbury was one of 20 districts recognized as a Confucius Classroom by the Asia Society for its exemplary Chinese language program. The district’s robust language program, however, is nothing new. Oleksak says Penn. Charter Demands Fair Funding After defAulting on its monthly pAyments 10 consecutive times through december 2011, the chester community (penn.) charter school announced on dec. 29 that it had filed suit against the commonwealth of pennsylvania, the pennsylvania department of education, the state’s secretary of education ronald tomalis, the chester-upland school district (cusd) and its board of directors seeking $3.8 million in overdue funding. the charter school is owed an additional $18 million through the end of the 2011-2012 school year. “there is no question that we have been extraordinarily patient up to this point,” said david clark, ceo of cccs in a statement. “our school and its students have been deprived, inappropriately, of the funding to which they are entitled.” pennsylvania charter school law states that the charter school’s funds come from the school district, which is required to make 12 payments no later than the fifth day of each month. cccs opened in 1998 with a small enrollment of 78 students, but its population has grown to over 3,000 and includes nine buildings over two campuses. that Glastonbury schools have had a strong language program, even at the elementary level, for over 50 years. There are 50 foreign language teachers for a student body of 7,000, and 10 English-languagelearner teachers for 100 ELLs. The district now offers six languages. Before the district received word of the loss of funding, Oleksak says that it was “creating a prototype of innovative assessments.” These assessments, she said, would go beyond studying reading, speaking and writing and would evaluate how students can interact in a global society. To date, there are no federally recognized language assessments. Advanced Placement classes, says Abbott, are not the same because they’re not offered in every language and are subjective in terms of how much credit a college will offer a student for them. “After 9/11, building our nation’s language capacity became a critical issue,” says Abbott. “Ten years later, we still haven’t been able to get any traction on that issue on Capitol Hill.” For now, Abbott says the assessments will be put on hold until further funding can be found. District Administration 16 February 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - February 2012

District Administration - February 2012
Contents
From the Editor
News Update
District Profile
Administrator Profile
Conversations
Product Focus
What Can U.S. Schools Learn From Foreign Counterparts?
A New Prescription for Fighting Drug Abuse
The Game Changer
The Legal Implications of Surveillance Cameras
CIO News
Mobile Devices Drive Creative Instruction
Products
Crisis Response
Professional Opinion
Problem/Solution
New Directions

District Administration - February 2012