Delaware Joins Chinese Language Education Consortium
Delaware is one of four state education agencies, four Chinese Flagship Centers and numerous school districts from across 10 states that are working collaboratively to implement K-12 Chinese education pathways over the next three years.
Lead by the Brigham Young University Chinese Flagship Center and Utah State Office of Education and funded by a $1 million federal grant from the Department of Defense’s National Security Education Program, the consortium is working to create, implement and disseminate what will become a national model of a well-articulated and replicable K-12 pathway for Chinese language study. By college graduation, students should achieve professional level (ACTFL Superior) proficiency.
“We want students to be ready for a new world of international jobs that will be open to them,” Gov. Jack Markell said. “ That means mastering world languages so they can work with, and compete effectively against, workers around the world. These students are preparing themselves for the global economy of tomorrow.”
The consortium also will develop and implement plans for national dissemination, program evaluation, and program quality control. An executive committee and national advisory board will oversee the effort.
“This is an incredible opportunity for our students to prepare for the global marketplace,” Secretary of Education Dr. Lillian M. Lowery said. “Through this partnership, Delaware will have access to curriculum and assessments provided by the consortium and our students will have the opportunity to continue their Chinese language study at any of the Flagship universities.”
The initiative aligns with work underway in Delaware as part of the governor’s World Language Expansion, an aggressive world language plan to prepare generations of Delaware students with the language skills to compete in an ever-changing global economy at home and around the world. Through the governor’s program, students will begin their study of Mandarin Chinese or Spanish in an elementary immersion program in kindergarten or first grade and continue language study into middle school. These students will be able to achieve Advanced Placement credit by ninth grade. They also will be encouraged to study an additional world language, such as Arabic, that could culminate in additional Advanced Placement credit by graduation. More details are available here.
With efforts such as the consortium and the governor’s initiative, Delaware will begin to graduate globally-competitive students with advanced-level proficiency in languages, giving them an economic edge in the multilingual and multicultural workforce of the 21st century.
Consortium participating institutions
Flagship:
Brigham Young University Chinese Flagship Center (Co-Principal)
Arizona State University Flagship Center
Hunter College Flagship Program
University of Mississippi Flagship Center
State education agencies:
Delaware Department of Education
Utah State Office of Education (Co-Principal)
South Carolina Department of Education
Oklahoma Department of Education
States with participating local education agencies:
Delaware (Caesar Rodney and Colonial school districts)
Michigan
Illinois
California
Utah
South Carolina
New York
Oklahoma
Wyoming
Texas
Additional media contacts:
Dr. Gregory Fulkerson
Education associate, Delaware Department of Education
302-735-4180
Dr. Dana Scott Bourgerie
BYU Chinese Flagship Program
801-422-4952
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Delaware's Department of Education is committed to promoting the highest quality education
for every Delaware student by providing visionary leadership and superior service.
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Contact Info.
Alison Kepner Delaware Department of Education 401 Federal Street, Suite #2 Dover, Delaware 19901 Phone: (302) 735-4035 Fax: (302) 739-4654 Email: akepner@doe.k12.de.us |
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