PreK-12 Licensure in French, German, Spanish, English as a Second Language
Longwood University
NCATE Program Report
March 25, 2010
Section I
Description of the Program
The Department of English and Modern Languages offers Bachelor of Arts degrees in Modern
Languages with concentrations in French, German, Spanish, and Teaching English as a Second
Language with the option of following the PreK-12 Teaching Endorsement track. Teacher candidates in this program take 40 credits of General Education courses, 6 credits in Humanities and a second foreign language to satisfy the BA degree requirements, 30-33 credits in the language of their concentration, and 40-43 credits in professional education and related courses. Our candidates spend at least one semester studying abroad in a country where the language of concentration is spoken, giving them a first-hand experience in the culture of their language, as well as increased proficiency in all areas of their language skills.
There have not recently been changes in the state regulations influencing the licensure program in foreign languages and English as a Second Language. However, there are changes that will affect our curriculum in the coming year, for which the curriculum change proposals have recently been approved; the Reading in the Content Areas course has changed from 2 credits to 3; courses in media and technology, assessment and special education have been eliminated, and the content of those courses will be addressed, as they have in the past, in the department methods course and in the student teaching course, thus giving a more disciplinespecific emphasis to these areas.
Field Experiences
There are three professional field experiences, as well as a study abroad experience, required in the program. Under the previous program, students completed two practica experiences in their freshman and sophomore years, as well as the student teaching semester. The recent changes will replace the first practicum with a senior-level practicum as part of Education 473
Inquiry into the Classroom Community, to take place concurrently with the foreign language or
ESL methods course. This will make it possible for students to have training and field experience in several areas, most notably in applying a Teacher Work Sample and in preparing to document effect on student learning. During the course of their field experiences, students will have placements at the elementary and middle or secondary levels. The student teaching semester is supervised by qualified full-time Longwood University faculty whose expertise is in foreign language and ESL education, not by faculty in Education. The required semester abroad is a field experience in which teacher candidates take a variety of content area courses and live with host families, perfecting their language skills and gaining first-hand knowledge of a foreign culture.
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Criteria for Admission, Continuing and Completing the Program
For admission to the program, students must declare a major in Modern Languages, with a concentration in French, German, Spanish or ESL. Students must earn a C or better in their major courses. Students must be admitted to the Teacher Preparation Program, by passing the
Praxis I test; successful completion of the courses Introduction to the Teaching Profession and
Human Growth and Development; achieving and maintaining at least a 2.5 GPA; and obtaining a faculty recommendation and the program coordinator recommendation.
To continue in the program, students must maintain at least a 2.5 GPA; must achieve at least a
C in all major courses; must obtain a faculty recommendation and the program coordinator’s recommendation to be admitted to student teaching; must pass the VCLA test; must spend at least one semester in an approved study abroad program in the country of the language
(students in ESL licensure must study in a non-English-speaking country).
To complete the program, teacher candidates must take the ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview; candidates take the Praxis II test (French, German, or Spanish; there is no Praxis II required in
Virginia for ESL); during the professional semester, students compile a teaching portfolio.
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Section II
The Modern Language Teacher Preparation Program and the
Longwood University Conceptual Framework
Content Knowledge: Modern Language and ESL teacher candidates demonstrate content knowledge in many areas through a rigorous curriculum in the areas of the “5 C’s” and the skills of reading, writing, speaking, listening and cultural knowledge. To enhance their proficiency in all of the skills, candidates are required to spend a semester studying in a country where their language is spoken. The curriculum covers advanced grammar, phonetics, literatures of both Spain and Spanish America, history and culture of Spain and Latin America. To complement the content knowledge in the area of their concentration, candidates are also required to study a second foreign language through the Intermediate II level.
Planning: Teacher candidates receive extensive practice in planning for instruction during their methods class,
“Approaches to Teaching French, German, Spanish, ESL”, and during their professional semester. In their plans, students apply the National Standards of Learning (The 5 “C”s) are in the units and lessons to design lessons in which communicative activities are the focus. In addition, beginning in 2010, students will be taking “Inquiry into the Classroom Community,” which will give them further practice with planning, as well as a Teacher Work Sample that will address all eight standards of Longwood’s Conceptual Framework.
Classroom Climate: Through their methods class and field experiences, candidates become proficient in creating a positive and supportive environment that is conducive to language acquisition. Candidates learn how to lower the students’ affective filters, and allay the natural fears that inhibit many language learners. Candidates practice techniques for making their classroom an enjoyable experience and learn to assess and provide activities for all learning styles.
Assessment: Candidates have opportunities to learn and practice the assessment techniques appropriate for assessing students’ skills in all areas of language acquisition, reading, writing, speaking, listening and cultural awareness, during their methods class and field experiences. Candidates learn to design and use rubrics and to align their assessments to the National Standards. Candidates learn how to use their assessments to assure that their teaching has a positive effect upon student learning/acquisition.
Communication: Communication is at the heart of what we do on Modern Languages and ESL. Our teacher candidates learn to communicate in a variety of contexts and with a variety of audiences in the language of their concentration as well as in English. The candidates learn how to teach students communication skills in the foreign language through the training they receive in our content area classes as well as the methods class and student teaching semester. “Communication” is the first of the “5 C’s” of the National Standards goals, with its 3 standards of Interpersonal, Interpretive and Presentational communication; teacher candidates receive a solid foundation in these communicative skills, and learn how to teach for communicative competence.
Technology: Many forms of technology have long been used in foreign language classes: overheads, music on CD, language labs with recording capabilities and video. But today we go beyond those traditional technological tools to bring the real world to our language classrooms. Not only do our teacher candidates benefit from the use of newer technologies in their content area courses, but teacher candidates learn to employ a wide variety of cuttingedge technological tools to bring foreign language and culture to their own students. The use of technology to aid language acquisition as well as cultural studies is emphasized in the methods course and during the student teaching semester. Technological tools are not limited to such programs as Power Point and use of the internet, but include newer technologies such as Wimba Voice Board and Wimba Live Classroom, to name a few.
Diversity: Teacher candidates in Modern Languages engage in many experiences to help them learn to value diversity as an opportunity to enhance their own lives as well as those of their students. Among the “5 C’s” of the
National Standards are “Cultures” and “Communities”; candidates must demonstrate an understanding of the
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relationship between the practices and perspectives of the cultures of areas where their languages are spoken, and the relationship between the products and perspectives, or underlying beliefs and values, of these cultures.
The “Communities” standard focuses on language as a tool for communication with speakers of the language throughout one’s life, in schools, in the community, and abroad. Through their content area courses., their study abroad experience, and in their professional preparation courses and field experiences, teacher candidates use these skills to reflect upon and transform their own beliefs about society and gain first-hand experience in recognizing and challenging stereotypes about diverse cultures. In this way, they learn to appreciate and celebrate the differences that are represented in our own society, and become able to teach appreciation and tolerance to their own students.
Dispositions: Modern Language and ESL teacher candidates model dispositions associated with the teaching profession by their value of diverse cultures, personal integrity, collaboration and professionalism, and are admitted to the teacher preparation program and later to student teaching based upon demonstration of these dispositions.
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Section III
Modern Language Program Assessments and
Relationship to Longwood University Unit Assessments
The Modern Language and ESL program assessments incorporate the Unit’s assessments.
Admission to the teacher preparation program requires the following assessments: Praxis I, assessment of dispositions, a 2.5 GPA, faculty and program coordinator recommendations. For completion, and for NCATE assessment, the following six assessments are required: the VCLA,
Praxis II (except for ESL), a comprehensive portfolio, the OPI (ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview), the Student Teaching Final Clinical Experience Evaluation, and a Unit/Lesson Plan Assessment.
Section IV
Candidate Information
Number enrolled:
Number completed:
2006-2007 unknown
2
2007-2008 unknown
2
2008-2009 unknown
1 undergrad and 1 grad student
Program Assessments and Results
VCLA: 100% pass rate
Praxis II: 100% pass rate
Pass
Fail
2
0
2006-2007
2
0
2007-2008 2008-2009
1 (no Praxis II for ESL)
0
ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview: There is no pass rate; the requirement for accreditation is
80% of graduates must rate at Advanced Low or higher. Scale is: Novice, Intermediate,
Advanced, Superior, with sublevels of “low” and “high” in each level except for Superior. Our
program rate is 80% at Advanced Low or higher, but if the ESL student had taken the OPI in
English, she would have rated at Superior so our rate is really higher, and in future years we will make sure students in ESL take the OPI.
2006-2007 2007-2008 2008-2009
Intermediate High
Superior
Advanced Low
Advanced Mid
Advanced Mid
(ESL did not take OPI)
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Comprehensive Portfolio: This portfolio contains evidence to support the candidate’s content knowledge. A rubric is used to assess contents. Portfolios and rubrics for the past years are not available. For future candidates, portfolios and rubrics will be kept for use in compiling this report.
Unit/Lesson Plan Assessment: This assignment is a performance and assessment project students begin to prepare during the methods class, and complete it during the student teaching semester. A rubric will be used to assess the design, performance and results of the project. Completed projects and rubrics for the past years are not available. For future candidates, Unit and Lesson Plan Projects and rubrics will be kept for use in compiling this report.
Student Teaching Final Clinical Experience Evaluation: Excel file attached.
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Section V
Modifications to Program in View of the Assessments
In response to prior assessments the Modern Languages and ESL licensure program has made changes to the professional studies requirements that became effective as of 2009-2010. Since students need to know how to use benchmarks to assess student learning, completing a
Teacher Work Sample prior to student teaching will give them this knowledge; this experience will now be provided to them in the new senior-level field experience (EDUC 473) that provides extensive instruction in aligning curriculum with assessment as well as the Teacher Work
Sample project.
Further changes made include substituting a 3-credit Reading in the Content Area course for the previous 2-credit course.
In addition, the faculty in Modern Languages and ESL are in the process of making changes to the content area curriculum to provide more exposure to cultural content. These curricular changes will be finalized and become effective in 2010.
Further changes are being implemented at this time to increase the enrollment in the licensure programs for Modern Languages and ESL, to better provide language and ESL teachers for
Virginia schools, since Spanish and ESL are currently listed as areas of “Critical Shortage” in
Virginia, and have been listed thus for a number of years. Endeavors we are undertaking include: renewed contacts with high school guidance counselors and language teachers; plans for contacting community colleges to design articulation agreements for Modern Languages and ESL; curricular changes to make the program more relevant to students desiring to be teachers; and providing increased numbers and kinds of cultural activities relating to foreign languages on campus.
Attachments:
Curriculum Vitae for program coordinator
Matrices for English as a Second Language
Excel file for Student Teaching Final Clinical Experience Evaluation
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