Information for parents of kids in Mandarin immersion education
For many of us with children in Chinese immersion programs in the San Francisco area, NanHai was our go-to bookstore for Chinese books, available in both traditional and simplified characters. Over time, catalog and then online sales made the pleasant trip down to the store less necessary. Clearly we weren’t the only ones. Sad to see them go, but glad that their reading program will continue.
|
|
|
|
The refusal by the Riverside School Board is interesting in that it says “the plan to require students older than second grade to demonstrate grade-level proficiency in Mandarin would likely cause the school to fail the state’s requirement that a charter school match the ethnic makeup of the district where it’s located district because few non-Asian students have that proficiency.”
That would effectively mean no language immersion charter schools are possible in the entire state of California if they have language requirements past first grade — something common to all immersion programs in the state I’m familiar with. I’m curious if that rational has been used to block other immersion charters.
– Beth
Despite one rejection, the creator of a proposed charter school that would have taught students in English and Mandarin is already planning his next step.
Michael Scott, a Riverside educator who helps teach classroom strategies in China, said he will appeal to the Riverside County Board of Education, asking it to consider his charter school petition after the Riverside Unified School District board unanimously rejected it Nov. 5. State lawgives 180 days from a rejection for that appeal to be heard.
The Riverside school board denied Scott’s proposal for Western Mandarin Immersion Charter School on the advice of a team of administrators.
The petition didn’t include an adequate plan for English learners or special education students, nor did the proposal demonstrate that it had sufficient interest from potential students to be financially viable, district officials said.
And the plan to require students older than second grade to demonstrate grade-level proficiency in Mandarin would likely cause the school to fail the state’s requirement that a charter school match the ethnic makeup of the district where it’s located district because few non-Asian students have that proficiency, the district’s report concludes.
Please read more here.
From: The Conversation
Between 2003 to 2015, multilingual students showed two to three times more progress in reading and math than students who speak English only. With this progress, the achievement gaps between multilingual students and their peers have narrowed substantially.
This new analysis we conducted of results from the National Assessment of Education Progress contradicts previous reports that academic progress has stalled for multilingual learners.
We make this observation as former teachers and researchers who have spent more than two decades focused on understanding the experiences of multilingual students.
Our findings not only show that multilingual students are learning more now than in the past, but they also suggest to us that schools and districts are serving these students more effectively.
Please read more here.
The Pleasanton school board started talking over possible kindergarten through eighth grade (K-8) pathways to be implemented on the north side of the city during a workshop last week that sparked much dialogue and excitement from trustees.
The hour-long session on March 27 was deemed too short for the full overall discussion, so the board decided to continue the conversation by folding it into another workshop (set for April 10) on facilities planning and the district’s most recent enrollment report — topics that also address capacity issues in northern Pleasanton.
“I think that this is super exciting,” trustee Jamie Yee Hintzke said during the workshop last week. “I mean, this is really the next direction our school district needs to go in.”
The conversation about new educational programs comes as the board has been considering whether to open at least one new elementary school in the near future to address existing and projected overcrowding at schools on the north side of town.
No decision has been made about whether to build a new school, let alone the potential location or if it would be traditional K-5 or the district’s only K-8 campus, but the board is looking at its options.
Staff briefly presented 10 different models for specialized learning that could be implemented as part of a potential new K-8 school: LEAD (literacy, enrichment, academics and digital arts), a dual language immersion program, project-based learning, STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), International Baccalaureate (IB), Montessori, an international school, STEAM (STEM subjects plus arts), a visual and performing arts academy, and a Waldorf school.
Please read more here.
I have no opinions on Falun Gong myself (so please don’t email about it!). I post this only because every year many Mandarin immersion programs get sent fancy, full-color brochures about the Shen Yun Performing Arts troupe if it’s presenting anywhere near them.
The group performs Chinese classical dance, though the final piece is often somewhat political and focuses on the persecution of Falun Gong members in China (which can make it a little scary for small children.)
I’ve heard people object to Shen Yun’s statement that it is “reviving” Classical Chinese culture, as if it were dead everywhere but in their troupe. But that’s not the issue I wanted to address here.
What I do want to address is something that many parents don’t realize — there’s a connection between Falun Gong (a spiritual practice group that’s banned in China) and Shen Yun. That’s important if your program has teachers from China in your schools, as you might be mystified about how those teachers could react to being invited to the performances.
I know one mom who bought two tickets to a performance and gave it to her child’s teacher as a present, but was confused at the teacher’s immediate return of the ticket and mumbled explanation that it wasn’t appropriate. The mom was worried she’d somehow offended the teacher because they’re pricey. But it turned out — after some behind the scenes discussions — that the teacher, who was on a two-year contract through Hanban in China, was worried she’d get in trouble if she attended such a performance.
So a little bit of background might help. I have no idea if it’s even an issue for teachers from China as I’ve only heard the one story, but hope this might be useful. I know I myself was initially mystified as what the underlying issues were.
Note that if you google “Shun Yun” you’ll find dozens of very supportive article from The Epoch Times. Here, too, it’s worth nothing that the newspaper is connected with Falun Gong.
Here are some articles that might be useful to those trying to understand the ins and outs of all this:
Please read more here.
—
—
Shen Yun seems like a kitsch dance troupe. But Beijing sees it as the propaganda wing of the Falun Gong movement, and a threat to their rule – and hounds the dancers from city to city, trying to sabotage their shows. By Nicholas Hune-Brown
—
In China the movement sputters on. Abroad its profile grows
Most Mandarin programs have a special ceremony for the day when students receive their Chinese names. It’s very sweet and something of a tradition in many schools, marking when you really enter into Chinese culture. And of course kids who already have Chinese names are also included in the ceremony.
From: The Sonoran News
It is never too early to prepare American students for the global economy! Kindergartners in the Cave Creek Unified School District’s Chinese Immersion program received their official, lifelong Chinese name during a celebratory naming ceremony. From this point forward, these 5-6 year olds will use their Chinese name when they are on the Chinese classroom side of the program (50% of the school day).
World Language Program Coordinator, Cristina Ladas, often hears students calling each other by their Chinese name on the playground, “It very much becomes a part of their identity when they are exposed at such a young age.” Cave Creek Unified School District has placed an emphasis on developing language proficiency in Mandarin Chinese, Spanish and French from PreK-12th grade as a way of building better critical thinkers, ready to tackle the world!
Please read more here.
Mandarin Immersion Parents Council 