RSA Students Touting The Benefits Of Learning Mandarin Chinese

UPDATED: 7:30 pm PST March 9, 2011

REDDING, Calif. — Redding School of the Arts has offered a Mandarin Chinese Immersion program for four years. They offer the program at their campus at 3500 Tamarac Drive in Redding.It’s a voluntary program where kids spend their day learning their regular curriculum, half in English and half in Mandarin Chinese. The language is one of the hardest for Westerners to learn, but Mike Dressel who teaches his 3rd grade class Mandarin says his kids don’t think so.“Kids don’t even realize it’s difficult,” says Dressel. “So, as a young person they don’t have that awareness yet that this is supposed to be hard.”Studies show that learning a second language early enhances a student’s intellectual development and can help their memory and critical thinking skills.What makes Mandarin difficult is learning the four different tones and its unusual rhythm. Eight-year-old Carson Wayman who has been in the program since kindergarten says, “If you’re saying a sentence and you get the tone wrong and if you’re talking to a Chinese person they could mistake the word for a different word and it wouldn’t make sense.”

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Shanghai: Head of the (global) class

Shanghai, China

Let’s say you’re a 10-year-old student in Shanghai. What are you doing differently from millions of students around the world? Do you begin with military-style math drills followed by monk-like recitations of philosophy? Not exactly. Try a vigorous hour of exercise. Then of course, you launch into an eight-hour day of academic rigor, during which you’re expected to participate eagerly, ace your (many) tests, and never fail to pay attention.

When school ends, it’s off to music, martial arts, or drawing class – or to meet one of your tutors. Then you get to head home for, you guessed it, homework. At least you can unwind during the weekend, right? Think again: Saturdays and Sundays provide time for yet more extracurricular classes and tutoring.

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2011 SOUTHWEST AIRLINES

CHINESE NEW YEAR PARADE JUDGING RESULTS

MARCHING SCHOOLS

1st Place  Starr King Elementary School (San Francisco Mandarin immersion)

2nd Place  Chinese Immersion School at DeAvila Elementary School (San Francisco Cantonese immersion)

SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARDS

(in alphabetical order)

International School of the Peninsula (Private Mandarin immersion)

St. Mary’s Chinese Girls’ Drum & Bell Corps

West Portal Elementary School Chinese Performing Arts Program (San Francisco public Cantonese immersion)

NOVEMBER 12-13, 2011
HYATT REGENCY SAN FRANCISCO AIRPORT

Connect your skills with experts in the most critical topics in contemporary Chinese Language education. To be discussed are the following; follow us on our website as the program develops!
✔ Curriculum, materials and articulation of Chinese programs
✔ Pedagogy, technologies and classroom management
✔ Cultural integration in Chinese language education
✔ Confucius Institutes: Program development, guest teachers and community
outreach
✔ And more…
Save the date!  Share your knowledge and expertise!_
Organized by : Chinese Language Education and Research Center
The Confucius Institute at San Francisco State University
UC Berkeley National Center for K-16 Chinese Language Pedagogy
Chinese Language Education Forum
510 Broadway, Suite 200, Millbrae, CA 94030  Tel:(650)259-2100  Fax:(650)259-2108
Please Visit Us At http://www.go-clef.org

American Council on Immersion Education

Educating Globally Competent Leaders

WHY CONTINUATION OF THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

(ESEA-Title V, Part D, Subpart 9)

IS CRITICAL TO THE NATIONAL INTEREST

•International and foreign language education programs in the U.S. Department of Education—

such as the K-12 Foreign Language Assistance Program (FLAP)—support our nation’s long-term

national security, global leadership and economic competitiveness capabilities. Successful U.S.

engagement in these areas, at home or abroad, relies on Americans with global competence.

•Less than 20% of Americans reported speaking a foreign language in census surveys, as opposed to 53% of Europeans. While many nations—such as the European Union, China, and India–require their students to learn two or more languages, the U.S. is behind. Educating the 21^st century workforce for a globally competitive economy requires foreign language and cultural education.

•At a time of severe and growing shortages of Americans with foreign language skills in government, healthcare, law enforcement, business and many other professions, the nation’s K-12 educational system is not prepared to expand international and language education for 21^st century needs.

•The federal role in stimulating K-12 foreign language education reform requires a dedicated

funding stream, since it provides a skill set needed by the nation for security and global economic

competitiveness. Consolidating or eliminating FLAP would make it subject to state and local

educational agency priorities, which historically have not emphasized foreign language education,

even more so now during a time of fiscal constraint.

•A recent survey by the Center for Applied Linguistics found that only 25 percent of American elementary schools even offer foreign languages. Moreover, fewer elementary schools are teaching a foreign language compared to a decade ago. In spite of this, survey data indicated strong growth and increased national interest in the number of language immersion programs.

What These Programs Do

•Funded at $26.928 million in FY 2010, the Foreign Language Assistance Program (FLAP) is the

only Department of Education program supporting the development of foreign language programs

at the K-12 levels. A portion of the funding is set aside for 5-year grants to local educational agencies that work in partnership with one or more institutions of higher education to establish or expand articulated programs of study in languages critical to U.S. national security, including Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Russian, and languages in the Indic, Iranian, and Turkic language families.

•Research demonstrates that learning a foreign language proficiently is best begun at an early age using the language immersion program model. This innovative program model provides sufficient time during which children learn subject matter in and use a new language. They accomplish this while becoming fully proficient in English and mastering subject knowledge. FLAP consistently funds a large number of new immersion program start-ups and continuous program improvement initiatives.

Contact: Tara W. Fortune • E-Mail: fortu001@umn.edu

Web: http://www.carla.umn.edu/acie

===

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February 28, 2011

The Honorable NAME HERE

ADDRESS HERE

Dear Senator NAME HERE,

As the Senate deliberates deficit reduction strategies and spending cuts for the remainder of FY 2011, I write to urge the Senate to consider the critical role played by the U.S. Department of Education’s International Education and Foreign Language Studies programs— HEA-Title VI, Fulbright-Hays, and the Foreign Language Assistance Program (FLAP) — in strengthening our nation’s security and global economic competitiveness.

H.R. 1 would provide continued funding in FY2011 for Title VI and Fulbright-Hays at the FY 2010 levels. I strongly urge the Senate to concur.  However, H.R. 1 eliminates all funding for FLAP in FY 2011.  I strongly urge the Senate to restore funding for FLAP at the FY 2010 level, the same amount as provided by the FY 2011 Continuing Resolution expiring on March 4.

FLAP is the only U.S. Department of Education program dedicated to providing direct grants supporting innovative K- 12 foreign language programs, such as language immersion programming.  Language immersion education is the most promising approach for providing children with high levels of bilingual proficiency. For decades research has shown these programs to support the same or higher levels of academic achievement and higher levels of second language proficiency than any other school-based model we know.

The San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) has boldly proposed to become the first district in the nation to ensure that every one of our 55,000 plus students graduate with proficiency in at least two languages. With FLAP funding, we are expanding critical Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Russian programs, with full K-16 standards-based articulation, high-quality teaching, high student expectation and assessment, and program accountability. In partnership with San Francisco State University (SFSU) and Stanford University, we are building K-16 critical language pathways for our students, offer specialized training for our faculty, and create a pipeline for critical language teachers to come back to SFUSD. Foreign Language Assistance Program (FLAP) funding is essential to make this vision a reality.

Currently, FLAP funds two highly innovative 5-year projects that use a K-12 – University partnership to develop K-12 Chinese and Korean immersion programs as well as Japanese and Russian K-12 World Language pathways for heritage and non-native speakers.

The consequences of eliminating this federal funding source for K-12 language learning, and in particular immersion education, would be devastating not only here in San Francisco but across the U.S.  Please give your full support for continued funding at current levels for FLAP, Title VI and Fulbright-Hays in FY 2011. U.S. children need access to innovative, high-quality educational programs that prepare them to succeed economically and politically in today’s globally interdependent world.

Respectfully,

——

People to call or write

S. Labor/HHS w/Educ Staff
Full Name St Dist Phone Room Zip Email
Fax Education Issues
C P
Inouye, Daniel K. HI 202-224-3934 202-224-6747 SH-722 20510-1102 Anthony Ching
anthony_ching@inouye.senate.gov
001
S D
Leahy, Patrick J. VT 202-224-4242 202-224-3479 SR-433 20510-4502 Kathryn Toomajian
kathryn_toomajian@leahy.senate.gov
001
S D
Harkin, Tom IA 202-224-3254 202-224-9369 SH-731 20510-1502 Bethany Little
bethany_little@help.senate.gov
002
S D
Mikulski, Barbara A. MD 202-224-4654 202-224-8858 SH-503 20510-2003 Mario Cardona
mario_cardona@mikulski.senate.gov
001
S D
Kohl, Herbert H. WI 202-224-5653 202-224-9787 SH-330 20510-4903 Jessah Foulk
jessah_foulk@kohl.senate.gov
001
S D
Murray, Patty WA 202-224-2621 202-224-0238 SR-448 20510-4704 Sarah Bolton
sarah_bolton@murray.senate.gov
001
S D
Feinstein, Dianne CA 202-224-3841 202-228-3954 SH-331 20510-0504 Christine Epres
christine_epres@feinstein.senate.gov
001
S D
Durbin, Richard J. IL 202-224-2152 202-228-0400 SH-309 20510-1304 Lexi Saudargas
lexi_saudargas@durbin.senate.gov
001
S D
Johnson, Tim P. SD 202-224-5842 202-228-5765 SH-136 20510-4104 Erin Barry
erin_barry@johnson.senate.gov
001
S D
Landrieu, Mary L. LA 202-224-5824 202-224-9735 SH-328 20510-1804 Tasha Patusky
tasha_patusky@landrieu.senate.gov
001
S D
Reed, Jack RI 202-224-4642 202-224-4680 SH-728 20510-3903 Moira Lenehan Razzuri
moira_lenehan@reed.senate.gov
001
S D
Lautenberg, Frank NJ 202-224-3224 202-228-4054 SH-324 20510-3005 Julie Groeninger
julie_groeninger@lautenberg.senate.gov
001
S D
Nelson, E. Benjamin NE 202-224-6551 202-228-0012 SH-720 20510-2706 Charlie Ellsworth
charlie_ellsworth@bennelson.senate.gov
001
S D
Pryor, Mark L. AR 202-224-2353 202-228-0908 SD-255 20510-0405 Mia Petrini
mia_petrini@pryor.senate.gov
001
S D
Tester, Jon MT 202-224-2644 202-224-8594 SH-724 20510-2604 Alpha Lillstrom
alpha_lillstrom@tester.senate.gov
002
S D
Brown, Sherrod OH 202-224-2315 202-228-6321 SH-713 20510-3505 Margie Glick
margie_glick@brown.senate.gov
001
S D
Cochran, Thad MS 202-224-5054 202-224-9450 SD-113 20510-2402 Will Todd
will_todd@cochran.senate.gov
001
S R
McConnell, Mitch KY 202-224-2541 202-224-2499 SR-361A 20510-1702 Sarah Arbes
sarah_arbes@mcconnell.senate.gov
001
S R
Shelby, Richard C. AL 202-224-5744 202-224-3416 SR-304 20510-0103 Graham Smith
graham_smith@shelby.senate.gov
001
S R

Charter schools on the rise in Alameda

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Jason and Anne Buckley moved to Alameda a year ago specifically for its good public schools. They have since determined that the best educational opportunities exist for their incoming kindergartner, Stella, at local charter schools.

The couple applied at the Conservatory of Vocal and Instrumental Arts, a K-8 charter in Oakland, and are also looking at Urban Montessori, which is currently seeking a charter from the Alameda County Office of Education to open a K-2 school next year. But Anne Buckley said she’s really hopeful the family will get into Alameda’s Nea Community Learning Center, which opened in 2009.

“All of our eggs are in this basket,” Anne Buckley said.

Charters have become increasingly popular here in Alameda, and a growing number of charters – which are public schools – are drawing interest from Alameda students. Nea, for example, had 718 people who were wait listed or had recently applied for 141 open spaces at the K-12 school as of last Tuesday night, when a few dozen parents attended an informational meeting on the school (the school’s application deadline is today, February 28).

Overall, charter school students make up more than 11 percent of Alameda’s public school student population, with more than 1,100 students in charter schools here. That’s including about 550 students who enrolled at The Academy of Alameda Middle School charter that opened this year and close to 350 at Nea, which opened at 2009 and is seeking to add 100 students in 2011-2012. (The district also hosts the Alameda Community Learning Center, which is Nea’s sister school serving grades 6-12, and the Bay Area School of Enterprise, a non-traditional high school charter.)

Mandarin immersion charter Yu Ming is considering a site in Alameda and hopes to serve K-1 families across northern Alameda County when it opens in the fall (its plan is to grow into a K-8 school by 2018), while Urban Montessori, whose leaders hope to find out whether their charter is approved on March 8, have collected several local parent volunteers and are also talking to interested families here.

Read more here.