get involved

The Teacher Recruitment and Retention task force has several initiatives underway and is seeking the involvement of members of the foreign language teaching profession to realize them fully. Additionally, the task force seeks input to identify new initiatives that will address pressing issues in the areas of teacher recruitment and retention in our profession.

Current Initiatives
The initiatives described below are in progress, but still need involvement and support from members of the profession to materialize fully:

Review of the Literature of Teacher Recruitment and Retention Efforts

The review of relevant literature on the research, projects, and initiatives in the areas of teacher recruitment and retention is a “work in progress.” The purpose of this review is to compile information on past efforts in these areas to inform and guide the continuous work of the task force. To this end, the review will continue to be updated as the task force moves through the various phases of its work and learns new information about its activities and other related developments in the field.
National Foreign Language Teacher of the Year

The proposal to establish a national award for Foreign Language Teacher of the Year is intended to elevate the status of our profession at the state, regional, and national levels by creating opportunities for recognizing the most accomplished members of our profession. First and foremost, this proposal is designed to involve all of our state, regional, and national organizations in promoting our profession. Second, it is intended to create as many media opportunities as possible to increase the visibility of the importance of learning languages and cultures to the general public.

New Initiatives
In order to meet its objectives of leading the profession in the recruitment of new language teachers and the support and retention of teachers already in the profession, the TRR task force is seeking individual members and professional organizations to take the lead or support the following planned initiatives:

Development of a Public Relations Program

The public relations program aims to promote the study of foreign languages and cultures in general and to persuade the widest range of students, especially heritage language students, to consider language teaching as a career. The specific tasks in this effort include: 1) identification of a celebrity to be a spokesperson for foreign languages, 2) development of both print and media promotional materials, and 3) work to tie the foreign language initiative to other related federal, state, and/or private initiatives in this area.

Establish a Variety of Strategies that Support and Retain Teachers in the Profession

This initiative focuses on identifying and/or creating a number of strategies aimed at recognizing, retaining, and rewarding our newest colleagues in the profession. The first endeavor in this area aims to connect every new language teacher with his/her state, regional, and national professional organizations. The second incentive involves developing and providing each of our professional organizations with model strategies, materials, and other activities that they can employ to support our new colleagues in the field. The recently developed Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Continuum (INTASC) Standards clearly define the competencies that new language teachers need to demonstrate during their first five years of teaching. Providing our professional organizations with strategies and processes for supporting our new colleagues in ways that will help them meet the identified competencies during their induction into the profession is critical for retaining them. At the same time, this support will insure that these new colleagues become the kind of language teachers that the profession needs at this time.

Identification and Dissemination of Recruitment Program Models

This project focuses on identifying as many teacher recruitment models as possible, both inside and outside the profession, to entice the widest range of citizens to consider language teaching as a career. To the extent that resources are available, the most promising models will be piloted in different parts of the country, with the features and outcomes of each program model publicized on the NVA Web site.

Individuals and organizations interested in collaborating with colleagues from across the nation in making each of the above described initiatives a reality, please contact the chair of this task force.