Welcome to the February electronic newsletter of the National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center!

New Visions in Action (NVA) is a project involving PreK-16 foreign language educators from every state in a collaborative effort to improve the profession. NVA seeks to identify and implement the actions necessary to revamp the language education system so that it can more effectively achieve the important goal of language proficiency for all students. NVA advocates that all students have the opportunity for and access to quality language instruction regardless of race, ethnicity, socio-economic class or gender. NVA consists of four task forces, each of which will be highlighted over the upcoming months of the Alumni eNewsletter: Teacher Recruitment and Retention, Research, Teacher Development, and Curriculum, Instruction, Assessment and Articulation.

This month we focus on the Teacher Recruitment and Retention Task Force, whose goal is to identify successful recruitment and retention models for recruiting and retaining language teachers in the profession.

Cindy Kendall, Newsletter Editor
Marcia Rosenbusch, Director, National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center

Teacher Recruitment and Retention: Task Force Goal
The goal of this task force is to assure a linguistically competent and culturally diverse American society by recruiting, supporting and retaining a qualified world-language teaching force.

The Teacher Recruitment and Retention Task Force is focusing its efforts on:

• Identifying and disseminating effective recruitment and retention models;
• Developing a public relations promotional campaign for foreign languages in general and for recruiting new and diverse members into the profession; and
• Establishing a variety of products and resources for teachers currently in the profession.

The task force is divided into three sub-committees, each focusing on identifying and/or creating a variety of products and resources to attain the goals established in the three areas listed above.

Focus on National and Regional Initatives
As part of the retention aspect of the Task Force, a process for establishing a National Foreign Language Teacher of the Year is being piloted in the Southwest Conference of Language Teachers (SWCOLT) region this spring.  The goal is to advance this process to every regional organization, and eventually have a National Foreign Language Teacher of the Year who will be a spokesperson for the importance of teaching and learning languages and cultures in the United States. Additional details on national and regional efforts is available at the NVA website.

Focus on State Initatives
Several state organizations have developed recruitment and retention models/strategies that are being identified to be reviewed and disseminated by the Task Force. For example, in 2003 the California Language Teachers Association (CLTA) sponsored a summer workshop on foreign language teaching for students.

Featured Websites
The challenges of teacher recruitment and retention are not unique to foreign language education. Extensive information and resources are available at the National Teacher Recruitment Clearinghouse and the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE).

Focus on Research
In 2001, the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory (NCREL) published Effective Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategies in the Midwest: Who is Making Use of Them, based on a survey of over 3500 school superintendents. Research results highlight effective strategies for both recruitment and retention.

Staying on Top Using Technology
Districts are using technology to support recruitment and retention as well as increase teacher productivity, efficacy, and efficiency. For example, Milwaukee (WI) Public School offers an extensive Professional Support Portal and Arlington Heights School District (IL) highlights new teacher support available in its human resources information.

In addition, numerous websites offer general and content-specific support for new and veteran teachers alike, such as the Foreign Language Teaching Forum (FLTEACH)]. Bevery Larson (NFLRC Alumna) maintains a list of foreign language teacher websites. Many of these personal websites are rich resources for the foreign language educator.

Become Involved
Are you interested in collaborating with others to address the challenges of teacher recruitment and retention? If so, contact the task force chairman for additional information on how you can help.

Duarte Silva, NVA Teacher Recruitment and Retention Task Force Chair
CERAS
Room 125
Stanford, CA 94305-3084
TEL: 650-849-7955
duarte.silva@stanford.edu

Quotes to Ponder

"Teacher recruitment and retention is one of the most important issue confronting the foreign language teaching profession today."  Duarte Silva, NVA Teacher Recruitment and Retention Task Force Chair

"Teaching languages and cultures to all students is a national imperative-- having a highly qualified teaching force is the key component to achieve this goal." Duarte Silva, NVA Teacher Recruitment and Retention Task Force Chair

"I'm not a teacher: only a fellow traveller of whom you asked the way. I pointed ahead - ahead of myself as well as you." George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950)

"His role was as the gentle teacher, the logical, compassionate, caring and articulate teacher, who inspired you so that you wanted to please him more than life itself." Carol Lawrence, U.S. singer, star of West Side Story. Conversations About Bernstein, p. 172, ed. William Westbrook Burton, Oxford University Press (1995).

"I am still a learner, not a teacher, feeding somewhat omnivorously, browsing both stalk and leaves; but I shall perhaps be enabled to speak with more precision and authority by and by, - if philosophy and sentiment are not buried under a multitude of details." Henry David Thoreau (1817 - 1862), U.S. philosopher, author, naturalist. Letter, May 21, 1856, to Harrison Blake, in The Writings of Henry David Thoreau, vol. 6, p. 280, Houghton Mifflin (1906)

Memories of Iowa
This month we offer you visions of Iowa through the eyes of Iowan artist Anita Baedke-Plucker. Flowers, like new teachers, need time, care, attention, and essential nutrients to grow and bloom. Flowers are but one part of the beautiful watercolors of Baedke-Plucker.

Subscription Information

You received this electronic newsletter because you are an alumni of an activity associated with the National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center. If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, email us at nflrc@iastate.edu with the subject line "remove alumni connection."

This Newsletter was prepared with funding from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education under Title VI grant #P229A020023. The publication of products and website URLs in this newsletter is provided for informational purposes only and does not imply an endorsement by the National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center, Iowa State University, or the positions or policies of the U. S. Department of Education.