The California Foreign Language Project gets Federal Recognition and Support
The California Foreign Language Project (CFLP) will expand its scope and reach nationally by 2011 with a $561,000 federal grant from the United States Department of Education (DOE). CFLP is one of nine disciplines in the California Subject Matter Project (CSMP), a teacher professional development program sponsored by the University of California Office of the President with sites on University of California, California State University, and independent college campuses. CFLP prepares teachers to effectively teach language and cultural content and offers professional development programs in languages commonly taught in public schools and those languages recently deemed to be of critical importance to the security and economic priorities of the United States. The languages, among others include, Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Russian, and Farsi. The DOE set out to identify successful professional development program models in the area of foreign language and international education that have the potential to be replicated on a national scale. “CFLP is honored to be selected as a model program with the potential of being disseminated nationally and to follow in the footsteps of the National Writing Project, which also had its origins in California,” stated Duarte M. Silva, CFLP Executive Director and co-author of the grant proposal. CFLP and the Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) will jointly administer the grant. The funded “Initiative for Model Professional Activities and Capacity Building for Teachers of Foreign Languages” (IMPACTFL) proposes to develop a comprehensive, systematic, and collaborative model for teacher of grades P – 16. Its goals include the development of manuals and professional development processes for replicating and implementing the CFLP model in different educational contexts across the nation as well as the sponsorship of institutes and seminars that will train representatives from key states in order for them to implement programs in their local settings. Silva added, “As the United States attempts to jumpstart the teaching of languages and cultures that are critical for students to succeed in the 21st century, it is imperative that an effective cadre of language teachers be prepared to meet this challenge. CFLP and its staff are pleased to be able to have been chosen to make this contribution that will benefit the language teaching profession beyond California.”
California Foreign Language Project