The California Foreign Language Project was established in 1989 by mandate of the California Legislature through Senate Bill 1882. Since that time, CFLP has vigorously pursued the goal of challenging language professionals to improve and expand language programs in California and to promote access and equity within educational institutions for every student. The Project strongly supports efforts to involve every language teacher in a supportive professional community which respects diverse ideas, provides opportunities for leadership, promotes linguistic and cultural competence and advocates for the retention, expansion and articulation of foreign and indigenous language offerings across educational levels beginning in the elementary grades. As a result of the new legislation (AB 2950 and SB 611) CFLP has placed more emphasis on standards-based instruction and the teaching of English learners and has expanded its programs to include teacher participants from state-defined low-performing schools. CFLP also seeks to establish partnerships with such schools. This document includes the CFLP Mission Statement, the basic principles which have evolved since the project's inception, and the criteria for CFLP program implementation and evaluation.
It is the intent of CFLP that the following principles, which embrace and respond to the new legislation governing subject matter projects should guide the development of all CFLP programming. The project also acknowledges that there are multiple approaches to fulfilling its mission and supports a variety of implementing strategies. At the same time, it recognizes that there are specific principles supported by research and practice regarding the teaching and learning of language to which the community of language professionals generally subscribes and which have come to define the essence of its work. The essential elements of California Subject Matter Projects as defined in AB 2950 are:
The Principles which define, guide and support the work of CFLP are as follows:
CFLP will strengthen teachers' content knowledge and pedagogical practices through its professional development programs in order to enable students to acquire language and literacy skills in Foreign Language.
Effective professional development enhances language teachers' cultural and communicative competence.
CFLP sites encourage and support teachers in increasing their academic content knowledge and strengthening their language competence by participating in target language pursuits such as study abroad, additional university study, and utilization of technology. CFLP further encourages language teachers to continue to explore opportunities which broaden their competence in the target language and culture and in relevant areas of interdisciplinary academic study.
Effective language instruction and assessment enable students to communicate in ways that are personally relevant, meaningful, purposeful and culturally appropriate.
CFLP supports language educators to develop strategies and select content which build upon students' interests and are appropriate for increasing their linguistic competence. Sites further assist teachers in developing instructional programs that are standards-based and link classroom learning to activities that students can perform with speakers of the language, and that lead to the expansion of their knowledge and ability to successfully interact in the target language and culture.
Effective teaching and learning take place in classrooms where the target language is the medium of instruction and is embedded in authentic cultural content and contexts.
In successful language classrooms, teachers create culturally authentic, language-rich environments where the target language is the medium of instruction and students have ongoing opportunities for communicative interaction which prepares them for the world beyond the classroom.
Language and culture are expressions of the human condition in all its diversity.
Language acquisition provides students with opportunities to explore new cultural perceptions and to communicate with people whose perspectives and experiences are similar to and different from their own. Congruent with the vision espoused in the national foreign language standards, CFLP programs aim at preparing students for the responsibilities of living in a multi-lingual, multi-cultural world by helping them to grow more receptive to points of view and life experiences different from their own. Culturally responsive teachers create safe, inclusive learning environments where teaching practices cross cultures, respect diversity and engage the motivation of all learners.
CFLP supports multiple, long-term programs and opportunities for its participants to pursue professional growth and to develop leadership capacity in order to improve the academic performance of students.
Leadership opportunities enhance the capacity of individual language teachers to take responsibility for improving instructional content and practice.
CFLP offers leadership opportunities in areas such as curriculum design, pedagogy, professional development, public advocacy or research. In addition, CFLP teachers may investigate content and relevant interdisciplinary studies in the humanities, social and natural sciences and the utilization of technology in the target language.
It is essential and imperative that every language teacher have access to professional development programs and receive equitable treatment in those programs.
CFLP site programs model the development and refinement of instructional practices which reflect national/state standards and support local educational needs.
CFLP encompasses the diversity of California's society among its site leaders and participating teachers, and among the languages and cultures represented in its programs.
CFLP strives to create an environment in which multiple perspectives are heard and valued.
CFLP offers leadership opportunities for all language teachers.
Effective professional development requires involvement of and support for teachers over an extended period of time.
CFLP programs are designed to engage participants in a series of integrated program offerings which span a number of years and provide continuing opportunities for professional renewal.
Research and practice have clearly demonstrated that short-term professional development programs, while they may be energizing and positive, do not lead to lasting change in instructional practices. CFLP participants are consequently invited to participate in a series of integrated regional site program offerings which span a number of years. After their long-term involvement, they are subsequently encouraged to return to their site for professional updates and renewal throughout their professional lives.
Effective professional development programs incorporate teachers' experience and knowledge in the planning, implementation and evaluation of programs and reflect the language teaching community's consensus on best pedagogical practice.
Over time, individual teachers develop their own strategies and practices. CFLP recognizes the value of such experientially acquired knowledge and seeks to provide a supportive environment in which teachers may share their strategies with others, learn from each other, test theories, set goals for their classroom practices, and adjust those practices in light of current developments in the field.
CFLP encourages teacher-participants to share their strategies with others, to learn from each other, to set goals for their classroom practices and to adjust or even change their previous practices as they become aware of new practices/ concepts/strategies which complement and support their expressed goals. This dynamic interaction of ideas is an essential component of CFLP programs. Sites provide teachers with collaborative opportunities for reflection on practice, professional inquiry and research.
CFLP focuses on the recruitment of teachers from low-performing schools to participate in programs especially designed to meet their professional development needs.
Language learning is for every student; it is essential and imperative that every student have access to language study and receive equitable treatment in language programs.
All students need competence in languages other than their own to participate fully in a multi-lingual, multi-cultural world. CFLP assists teachers in creating programs which provide opportunities for all students to enhance their language competence and in advocating for access and equity throughout the educational system.
CFLP advocates for student access and equity by providing strategies and support for teachers who are addressing the needs of California's diverse student population.
Language teachers as adult learners benefit from professional development opportunities that relate to their own circumstances and needs.
CFLP involves language teachers in processes and experiences that are meaningful to them. Programs are planned with the aim of encouraging participants to discuss their practices, validate them in their own classrooms and verify the results with colleagues. CFLP programs advocate for a discovery process for teacher-learning and sharing. CFLP believes in involving teacher-participants in experiences from which they have the opportunity to derive meaning and which they see as beneficial for their own situations and needs.
CFLP sites establish partnerships with low-performing schools in their region to mutually support efforts for improving student learning as defined by established standards.
Programs are planned with the goal of encouraging participants to discuss their practices, validate them in their own classrooms and verify the results with site colleagues.
The CFLP supports and maintains statewide and local Foreign Language networks involving representation from all partners in the language teaching community, schools of education and other relevant academic departments and professional organizations.
Collaboration with other institutions and organizations is essential in order to promote and support efforts for positive educational change.
Effective relationships between the central project, sites and other institutions and organizations strengthen professional development programs. CFLP seeks to collaborate on issues of mutual concern with institutions of higher education, pre-service programs, professional associations, other subject matter projects, educational consortia, county offices, districts, and schools.
CFLP advocates for language educators on professional issues affecting the teaching and learning of language.
Locally and statewide, CFLP collaborates with other organizations including IHE's, pre-service programs, professional associations, county offices and educational consortia.
CFLP sites maintain a strong focus on issues of access and equity and provide strategies and support for teachers who are attempting to address the needs of California's diverse student population. The project helps teachers create programs which provide multiple entry points for every student to enhance their language and cultural competence. Teachers are encouraged to advocate for these programs to be credited as prerequisites for entry into four-year institutions. Sites provide teachers with skills to advocate for Foreign Language as part of the core curriculum, K-14.
The California Foreign Language Project's goals provide the foundation for the program evaluation design. The preceding guiding Principles outline the underlying philosophy which supports the California Foreign Language Project's mission of developing and implementing effective professional development programs for language teachers. These principles, which reflect the project's broad program areas, cluster into the five general categories given as priorities of AB 2950.
The California Foreign Language Project will support teachers to increase their academic content knowledge and strengthen their language competence and pedagogical practices. Focus will be placed on supporting teachers to enable students to acquire language and literacy skills in a language other than their own and develop the level of language and culture competence to successfully participate in a multilingual/multicultural world.
The California Foreign Language Project will sponsor multiple long-term, content-focused programs and opportunities for its participants to pursue professional growth and develop leadership capacity.
The California Language Project will focus its programs on the needs of all language teachers - particularly those from underrepresented minority groups, those who teach students from these groups and those who teach in schools where the majority of students achieving below expected levels of performance.
The California Foreign Language Project will establish partnerships with low-performing schools in each region to mutually support efforts for improving student learning as defined by established standards.
The California Foreign Language Project will support and maintain statewide and local foreign language networks involving representation from all partners in the language teaching community, including schools of education and other relevant academic departments and professional organizations
The California Foreign Language Project will implement an evaluation design which will demonstrate the impact of its program on teacher and student performance. This design will be instrumental in providing necessary feedback to sites to assess the progress they are making in implementing the goals set by the project and will also provide relevant information for the CSMP evaluation process.
The project has put in place an evaluation coordinator who, with input from the sites, has designed a process and protocol which will assist sites and the central project in assessing the progress of the site in meeting stated CFLP/CSMP goals. The project has also developed assessment protocols: the Classroom Oral Competency Interview (COCI) and the Stanford Foreign Language Oral Skills Evaluation Matrix (FLOSEM) which determine students' oral competency progress), the Classroom Writing Competency Assessment (CWCA) (which determines students' progress in writing) and is in the process of developing an assessment protocol for receptive skills, the Classroom Receptive Competency Assessment (CRCA). Sites will be using these protocols with a randomly selected subset of participating teachers and their students in pre- and post-workshop time frames. The process of growth will be measured in terms of program outcomes pre-determined by the site.
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