MPCSD strategic plan includes overhaul of foreign languages

By BROOKS TAYLOR

Mt. Pleasant News

Chinese? Spoken in Mt. Pleasant?

That is one of the languages that is being proposed in the district?s strategic plan for a World Class Language Program in the Mt. Pleasant Community School District.

Chinese is one of five languages that will be taught at a Henry County Career Academy for grades 9-12. The career academy, according to the strategic plan, would be shared by five schools ? both private and public ? from southeast Iowa. Other languages available would be Arabic, French, German and Spanish.

Seventh- and eighth-grade students would select one of the aforementioned languages which would be taught in an exploratory model. The goal through model development of the program is to move from exploratory to immersion. The program would be implemented at the middle school in the 2015-16 school year.

The Mt. Pleasant World Language Program, proposed in strategic planning, would have critical languages taught three days a week, 30 minutes per day for grades K-6, beginning with the 2014-15 school year.

Curriculum at the elementary level would be developed by a committee of language experts which include world language teachers, regent university professors, IWC/UI students of foreign language, administrators, elementary classroom teachers, students and parents.

Elsewhere in the proposal, it says that the MPCSD foreign language program will focus on students being able to read, write and converse in at least two languages. Spanish is the other language being proposed for K-5, sixth- through eighth-grade students would have their choice of Spanish, Chinese, German and French (all added over time) as a second language while the high school language program choices would mirror the middle school choices.

Ironically, Mt. Pleasant discontinued its French program at the high school a couple of years ago.

Benefits of knowing more than one language, the plan said, include intellectual, educational, personal, social and economic.

The language program is part of the school district?s attempt to be a world class school.

There are eight components to a world-class school, according to the MPCSD?s strategic plan.

Those components include:

? Global citizenship: Connection with other students across the country/world. Service learning and the sense of bettering our society.

? Quality facilities: State of art facilities that allow for group learning/collaboration and has the capability of handling the latest technology.

? Rigorous/relevant curriculum: All students are challenged with ?real world learning,? that they are able to use.

? Prepared for a life after graduation: All students are prepared to be productive citizens.

? Bilingual education: All students receive bilingual education and are aware of the world around them.

? Advanced technology: All students have the opportunity to use the latest technology; technology that is provided with great freedom for students.

? High academic standards and assessment system: All students are held to high academic standards and assessment systems that allow many ways for students to demonstrate their learning.

? Teacher collaboration/quality professional development: All teachers must be given adequate time to collaborate and work in teams.

While members of the strategic planning committee said they supported Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad?s educational reforms, they noted one key criterion is missing.

?As we examine the educational reform plan, we believe one element is missing to truly create world class schools,? the plan said. ?Every developed country in the world, with the exception of the United States, requires students to learn at least two languages. If Iowa is serious about creating the best schools in the world, we must create a world language program that is offered in every school.

?Challenges in the global economy have a direct impact on Iowans, and in particular on our students. In order to have a well-prepared workforce, we need to give students opportunities to develop world-class skills that place them on a level with students in other countries where bilingual education is the norm,? the report continues. ?World-class schools must provide access to training in global languages and cultures.?

Mt. Pleasant intends to work with University of Iowa and other universities and colleges to develop the model language program.

There are three types of foreign-language programs.

? Immersion programs: In immersion programs, students spend all or part of their day learning the second language. There are three types of immersion programs.

Total immersion is where children learn all of their subject areas (math, science, reading) in the second language. Some 50 to 100 percent of the day is taught in foreign language. The goal is to become functionally proficient in the foreign language, Master subject content taught in the foreign language and to acquire an understanding of an appreciation for other cultures.

Two-way immersion is also known as a two-way or dual language program. At least 50 percent of time is spent learning subject matter taught in a foreign language. This is used when student population are both native speakers of English and of a foreign language. The goal is to become functionally proficient in the second language, master subject content taught in the foreign language and to acquire an understanding of and appreciation for other cultures.

Partial immersion is where 50 percent of time or less is spend learning subject matter in a foreign language.

? Foreign language in elementary schools (FLES): This is the most common type of program in the United States. A foreign language is presented as its own subject, much as science or math. The class is typically taught three to five times per week. MPCSD said to implement the program, three to four full-time language teachers would be needed. However, the district thinks it could benefit from involvement of UI foreign language students who would be placed in K-6 classrooms. The UI students would serve as language and culture assistants as the program is initiated. Iowa Wesleyan College, according to the school district, can provide the district with Chinese instruction through visiting professors and Chinese college students.

? Foreign language exploratory (FLEX): This program introduces students to other cultures and to language as a general concept. This is done through a 9-36 week exploratory. The goal is to introduce, but not master, the language. The district said an exploratory class for the middle school is an option.

Possible funding/support for the world language support would be from the Iowa Department of Education (one-time payment), sharing instructors with another school district or partnership with colleges/universities to share language teachers (each institution paying a portion of the teacher?s salary.

Mt. Pleasant?s strategic plan has not been adopted by the district?s board of directors, but school board members are expected to consider the plan during its regular meeting Monday night (April 14) at 7 p.m. in the high school media center.