Information for parents of kids in Mandarin immersion education

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  • Michigan immersion program doing well

    Rockford high school students visited the Turkey pavilion at the World Expo in Shanghai during their recent trip to China.

    Rockford’s language programs excelling

    By Danielle Arndt

    In 2007, Rockford Public Schools was awarded $550,000 in federal grant money to start up its Mandarin Chinese and Spanish Immersion programs.

    The district is now reaping the rewards of these programs as its students have begun to excel – matching or surpassing native speakers at various grade level

    Rockford’s language programs excelling

    By Danielle Arndt

    In 2007, Rockford Public Schools was awarded $550,000 in federal grant money to start up its Mandarin Chinese and Spanish Immersion programs.

    The district is now reaping the rewards of these programs as its students have begun to excel – matching or surpassing native speakers at various grade levels.

    The funding has now run dry for these programs. The district had three years to use the money to get the courses up and running, which included financing books, teachers’ salaries and assessment costs.

    “It’s important to evaluate how well you are doing and with anything new you have to prove yourself,” said Roguewood Elementary Principal Michael Hibbeln who served as the grant coordinator and helped to get these programs off the ground.

    The Spanish Immersion program has grown from 143 pupils in 2007-2008 to 246 pupils this year, while the number of students enrolled in Chinese 1 grew from 54 to 96 students during that same time period.

    A recent study shows, 95 percent of Rockford’s first-year Spanish Immersion students have oral fluency and listening comprehension skills consistent with other immersion programs around the country. The percentage Rockford was expected to target was 80 percent.

    Despite the now documented growth and success of these programs, some district parents and local community members are disapproving of Rockford’s decision to keep these programs in the middle of a budget crisis. Critics cite the large class sizes elementary children and teachers are dealing with and the significant number of teacher layoffs.

    However, Hibbeln said the programs do not cost the district additional money.

    “The real cost is in the startup, but that we got the funding for,” he said.

    Read more here.

  • Interesting paid afterschool language class model

    Not immersion, but possibly an option for district’s that aren’t up for immersion. Though we’d love to hear from schools that have used this program. How did it go? And are there really enough scholarships to go around?

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    Elementary schools to pilot language immersion program

    By Rich Harbert
    Posted Oct 14, 2010 @ 10:00 AM

    Print Comment
    PLYMOUTH —

    The School Committee said “si” to a language immersion program for elementary school students.

    The International Educational Systems (IES) Language Foundation will begin offering after-school classes for students in November. Parents must pay for the 24-week program, but scholarships are available for families who cannot afford the lessons.

    Carol Ryan, a Plymouth resident and part-time teacher at the Bay Farm Montessori Academy, will coordinate the program.

    IES offers instruction in four languages – Spanish, French, Mandarin and Arabic. Elementary schools can individually decide which language to offer but, thus far, it’s been unanimous. Seven of eight local schools have already agreed to offer the program and all seven have chosen Spanish as the language to be taught.

    Ryan grew up speaking Arabic at home and teaches French and Spanish.

    Each school will offer two after school session – one for student in kindergarten through grade 2 and the other for grades 3 through 5.

    IES started offering language programs in 1982 in San Francisco. The program arrived in Massachusetts in 1990. Hingham and Quincy already offer the program on the South Shore.

    Ryan, who has two children who are about to enter the local school system, approached administrators with the idea last year.

    The IES program is especially helpful because it works with students when they are young and most able to absorb a new language.

    Tead more here.

     

  • First Mandarin immersion school in Mass. planned

    Cambridge school first to offer dual-language immersion program in Mandarin Chinese

    By Staff reports
    Posted Oct 12, 2010 @ 02:26 PM
    Last update Oct 13, 2010 @ 11:49 AM
    Cambridge —

    A Cambridge school will be one of the first in Massachusetts to offer a dual-language immersion program in Mandarin Chinese as early as next year.

    With funds from a federal grant program, the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. School plans to expand its Ni Hao (Hello!) Mandarin Chinese program to include a dual-language immersion component.

    “This is pretty exciting and pretty ground-breaking for Massachusetts,” said Gerald Yung, the principal of the school. “We think the Chinese immersion model would be a very strong model.”

    The grant will help the Putnam Avenue school to create and implement a dual-language immersion Mandarin Chinese program over the next five years.

    “Students will maximize their learning potential by becoming proficient speakers, readers and writers of Chinese and English while realizing their academic potential in all of their academic subjects,” the school said in a press release.

    To read more, please click here.

  • See “Speaking in Tongues” in Spanish or Chinese

    Want to see San Francisco’s Mandarin immersion program up close and personal? Check out this great documentary. And for the next three days it’s available with Chinese subtitles.

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    Last 3 days to catch Speaking in Tongues in Chinese and Spanish on the PBS website…

    Spanish: http://video.pbs.org/video/1563556910
    Chinese: http://video.pbs.org/video/1563525997

    At a time when 31 states have passed “English Only” laws, four pioneering families put their children in public schools where, from the first day of kindergarten, their teachers speak mostly Chinese or Spanish.

    Speaking in Tongues follows four diverse kids on a journey to become bilingual. This charming story will challenge you to rethink the skills that Americans need in the 21st century.

    SPEAKING IN TONGUES — 4 kids, 4 languages, 1 city, 1 world
    Watch the trailer: http://www.speakingintonguesfilm.info
    AUDIENCE AWARD for BEST DOCUMENTARY
    San Francisco International Film Festival

    COMING TO PBS  FALL 2010

    PATCHWORKS FILMS
    Marcia Jarmel & Ken Schneider, Filmmakers
    415.387.5912

    http://www.patchworksfilms.net

  • Famed NY Mandarin immersion school in trouble

    This raises the ongoing problem of how to fund Mandarin immersion programs in an era of cash-strapped public schools.

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    Updated 10/11/2010 09:10 PM

    High-Ranking LES School Has Nine Open DOE Investigations

    By: Lindsey Christ

     

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    P.S. 184 in the Lower East Side is one of the crown jewels of the city’s public school system, but an exclusive NY1 investigative report has uncovered many serious issues at the school. NY1’s Lindsey Christ filed the following report.It’s the first in the country to teach in both English and Mandarin. The celebrated bilingual classes at the Shuang Wen School are mandatory. But NY1 has learned that this year, the mostly low-income students were told to start paying for those classes at a cost of $1,000 each.

    “You have parents that are working two or three low income jobs just to get by and yet they are being forced to pay this thousand dollars so their children be able to perform in this academic environment and it’s supposed to be a public school,”s aid P.S. 184 parent Saultan Baptiste.

    When NY1 went to education officials and asked if this was legal, they admitted it’s wrong and under investigation. It’s one of nine investigations involving the school.

    The school brochure explains, “Instruction in Mandarin takes place primarily during Shuang Wen’s mandatory after-school program.”

    The school says payment is mandatory, too.

    One letter issued to parents said, “Only those who pay the tuition shall be able to attend, with no exception.”

    Another warned, “If we do not receive your payment by the deadline, you child will be dismissed in the cafeteria at 3:00 PM… Due to limited staff, we will not be able to take care of your child after 3:00pm. The safety of your child will be in jeopardy if you come late.”

    Just last week, parents were told if they didn’t pay, “we shall start to take the necessary action.”

    Parents blame the city for celebrating the school’s program, sending more and more students but then not providing enough funding. And when the school tried to make up the difference by shaming parents who didn’t donate, the city cut its after-school funding altogether. The school said that left limited choices.

    “One is reduce the service level so that it still remained free, which we didn’t want to do because we know how important it was to parents. The other option is to start charging,” said Shuang Wen Academy Network Board Chair Nora Chang Wang.

    In June, parents received notice that classes would now cost a thousand dollars.

    The principal insists students who don’t stay after school can still pass. Parents disagree. They say some regular classes, like social studies, are conducted in Chinese, and students need to read and write the language to pass.

    “You are not going to be able to perform in these classes unless you pay the thousand dollars per child,” Baptiste said.

    Many parents say what makes Shuang Wen special is the Mandarin immersion, and that they would rather pay than cut the program. But others say many families can’t afford any tuition but feel pressure to come up with it or transfer out of the school.

    The DOE says at a public school, the practice is not right and may be illegal.

    See more here.

  • China revamping its version of TOEFL

    China plans revamp of HSK test

    • October 11th, 2010 5:12 am ET

    Two-decade-old method assesses Mandarin Chinese proficency

    BEIJING, CHINA – When South Korean student Yi Da Hye came to China in 2004, she could speak a smattering of Mandarin but struggled with sentences and could write only a few Chinese characters.
    After five years of drilling for the state-run Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi (HSK) or ‘Chinese Proficiency Test’ here, the 27-year-old has been certified as an ‘Advanced’ student of the language and is sharp enough to major in Chinese at the elite Peking University.
    “I learnt a lot during the preparation of the HSK tests. I have no problem conversing with Chinese, and I have a lot of Chinese friends,” she said.
    The HSK, which is China’s Mandarin Chinese equivalent of Britain’s International English Language Testing System (IELTS) and the United States’ Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), has been criticized before for its focus on the written language – arguably the most difficult aspect for Western learners.
    But the Chinese test is also undergoing changes itself.
    Memory work will be slashed when the new HSK kicks in this year, with emphasis given to comprehension and communication, especially on the usage of the language in daily life.
    It is believed to be the first time the two-decade-old test is undergoing a revamp, as it seeks to improve its examination of Chinese proficiency among non-native speakers.
    “We have been studying the IELTS and TOEFL, and finding our own way towards the new model,” said Mr Zhou, a department head of the Office of Chinese Language Council International, or Hanban. He declined to give his full name.
    There will be six levels – one being the lowest. An oral component will also be introduced, using short conversations and dialogues on daily events.
    For the basic learners, the test uses a large number of pictures and pinyin to help the students. Native languages of the students, such as English for example, are also used to guide the students along.
    Read more here.

  • Arizona State University – what our kids can look forward to

    The Chinese Language Flagship Program exists at several universities and offer a place for already-fluent Mandarin speakers to go with their Chinese. At many universities, Chinese classes are for beginners and don’t get much beyond moderate/advanced. For kids coming out of immersion programs, there simply aren’t enough classes at enough depth for them. The Flagship program creates those classes, and more importantly adds connections to universities in China, so students can study abroad.

    Universities include:

    Arizona State University
    Brigham Young University
    Indiana University
    Ohio State University and Ohio Public Schools
    San Francisco State University Partner Program
    University of Mississippi
    University of Oregon and Portland Public Schools
    University of Rhode Island Partner Program
    Western Kentucky University Pilot Program

    Here’s one example, from StatePress.com in Arazona

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    ASU celebrates Chinese immersion program

    By Michael Reppenhagen October 6, 2010 at 10:23 pm

    “One University, Many Places” – students see it all over campus, but an ASU program is making strides to add a whole new meaning to this vision.

    The ASU Chinese Language Flagship Program prepares undergraduate students to function at the professional level in China, giving them the opportunity to study and work in Chinese cities.

    The program, which is part of a global, multi-lingual initiative called the Language Flagship, celebrated a continuation of its relationship with the National Security Education Program at an event held in the Memorial Union Wednesday.

    The NSEP is a government initiative designed to create a pool of U.S. talent that can excel in other cultures. It awarded ASU’s Flagship program a federal grant on Sept. 29 to ensure its funding for the next three years. The program began in 2007 on a grant from the same organization.

    NSEP Director Robert Slater said graduates of the center are on par with other universities who have had similar programs for a longer period of time.

    Slater said the grant is intended to recognize ASU for being one of the few universities that stands by its commitment to investing in language studies.

    “What ASU has is not just rhetoric, but actual practice,” Slater said.

    He added that ASU must now lead a push to encourage studies of this nature to become more widespread across the country.

    “Become missionaries,” Slater said to students. “Become the norm, not the exception in education.”

    At Wednesday’s event, ASU President Michael Crow said the center is poised to help improve the country’s understanding of other cultures, which is a serious problem in international relations.

    “We don’t have the deep understanding that we’re in need of,” Crow said. “The notions of [the U.S. and China] working together can only be achieved through cultural understanding.”

    Read more here.