Foreign Languages
Learn more about teaching non-English languages, or world languages, in K-12 schools
Curriculum
NRC Sees Deficit in Federal Approach to Foreign Languages
A report characterizes the Education Department’s programs for the teaching of foreign languages and cultures as “fragmented.”
Equity & Diversity
A Culture Put to the Test
A rigorous Navajo-immersion program draws on both tradition and modern accountability tools to improve student achievement.
Curriculum
County Executive in Michigan Calls for Mandarin for All
Students in the state, with its lagging automobile industry and high unemployment, need to be ready to do business with China, says L. Brooks Patterson.
Curriculum
Obituary
Cecil J. Picard
Cecil J. Picard, the state superintendent of education in Louisiana since 1996, died Feb. 15 of complications related to Lou Gehrig’s disease. He was 68.
Early Childhood
Bush Budget Proposes Level Funding for Head Start
Early-childhood education advocates criticize the proposal and call for additional funds.
Education
A State Capitals Roundup
Pilot Foreign-Language Program Could Go Statewide in Georgia
Critics of Gov. Sonny Perdue's plan to spread funding say it would undermine the success of the schools that have benefited from state support.
School & District Management
Dallas Drops Language Rule for Principals
A year after adopting what may have been the first school district policy requiring some principals to speak Spanish, the Dallas school board has decided to loosen the requirement.
Standards & Accountability
Group Publishes Nation's First Arabic Standards
The teaching of Arabic has received a boost with the first-ever publication of standards for teaching the language in U.S. schools.
College & Workforce Readiness
For Some Students, GED Test in Spanish Is Best Alternative
Earning a high school diploma is one of the milestones for students who come to the United States from other countries. But for those who arrive in their middle to late teens, learning enough English to earn a diploma can seem all but impossible.
Recruitment & Retention
Chinese Ministry Signs Pact With College Board To Build Up Teachers
In a week marked by a high-profile meeting between President Bush and China’s President Hu Jintao, the College Board signed an agreement with the government of China intended to boost the numbers of Chinese-language teachers in American public schools through teaching exchanges, professional-development programs, and new instructional materials.
Federal
English Now the Foreign Language of Schools Abroad
English is hot in many foreign language schools abroad. But as the trend accelerates, so too has debate over the value of English in a global society, its strong historical connection to imperialism, and the monolingualism to which English-only countries steadfastly cling at the risk of losing their share of the world marketplace.
Curriculum
Other Native-English Countries Ahead of United States
Even as the focus on foreign-language instruction up north and Down Under has waned recently in the wake of renewed attention to reading, mathematics, and science instruction, countries outside the United States where English is the primary language have more than a decade’s head start in their language skills and public attitudes on the importance of language learning.