Federal Funding Announced for 2010

From JNCL-NCLIS--
On December 16, 2009, the President signed H.R. 3288, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010, which includes appropriations for the Department of Education for fiscal year 2010. As the Department was operating under a Continuing Resolution to fund programs at 2009 levels until December 18, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010 provides the overdue figures for education, among several other agencies.

In looking at programs that support foreign languages and international education, many of these were level-funded from last year, among them are Baccalaureate and Master’s STEM grants and Javits Fellowships. A number of programs received small to moderate increases, such as the Fund for the Improvement of Education ($135.5million), Civic Education ($35 million), Byrd Honors Scholarships ($42 million), SMART grants ($1,010 million). Of particular interest, the Foreign Language Assistance Program (FLAP) was increased by $600,000 for $26.9 million, and Teach for America was reinstated at $18 million. More significant funding increases came for Charter School Grants ($256 million total), Federal Pell Grants ($20.5 billion), Recruiting and Training High Quality Teachers/Principals from $97.3 million in 2009 to $400 million, Title VI/Fulbright-Hays ($125.9 million), and $159.4 million for the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE).

A smaller number of programs were decreased in funding levels, including Educational Technology State Grants ( from $269.9 million to $100 million), Teacher Quality Partnership ($50 to $43 million), and Magnet School Assistance (to $100 million). Two programs, Early Reading First and National Institute for Literacy in Adult Education, were eliminated. TEACH grants, eliminated in 2009, have not been reinstated.

For further details, please log in to the JNCL-NCLIS Google Group or visit http://www.languagepolicy.org/documents/appropriations/FY2010.xls

NCLRC Culture Club Update

The NCLRC Culture Club is an online environment where teachers of foreign languages can find materials and information to help them teach about the culture(s) of their target language(s). There are nine rooms in the Club. Each room has a link to its Collection where you will find all the previously-featured materials. See http://nclrc.org/cultureclub/email_club.html

SOPI TASK and TEST CREATION Workshop

This workshop is the follow-up to the PSMLA sponsored SOPI assessment workshop (Part I). Participants will review their understanding of the lower levels (Novice to Intermediate -Low) of the ACTFL Oral Proficiency Scale and the SOPI-type test structure. The participants will then work together to develop a SOPI oral proficiency test. Working in language specific groups, the participants will be shown how to create age-appropriate tasks and prompts, select appropriate visuals to accompany tasks and record the prompts for a SOPI oral proficiency test. Participants will leave with at least one SOPI test in French, German, Japanese or Spanish.

Workshop facilitators: French: Dr. Bonnie Adair-Hauck

German: Dr. Thekla Fall

Japanese: Dr. Isabel Espino De Valdivia

Spanish: Ms. Sue Cefola

Date: January 30, 2010

Location: The Ellis School, 6425 5^th Ave. Pittsburgh, PA 15206

Time: 9:00-3:00 p.m. breakfast: 8:30 a.m.

Cost: $130.00 PSMLA members; $170.00 non-members

Includes 5 hour workshop with ACT 48 credit; materials;

continental breakfast and lunch

This SOPI workshop is sponsored by the Pennsylvania State Modern Language Association in conjunction with The Ellis School.

Note: Space is limited. Preference will be given to those who attended the SOPI Part I workshop. Contact Thekla Fall if you are interested in attending thekla.fall@gmail.com

Google Launches Tool To Search in Other Languages

Google Launches Tool To Search in Other Languages
By Jennifer LeClaire
Google has launched a "Translated search" option to allow searchers to find information in other languages. The new Google translation option is being rolled out and when complete will automatically select the best language to translate a query into and return the results in the user's language... For the complete article see:
http://www.sci-tech-today.com/news/Google-Searches-in-Other-Languages/story.xhtml?story_id=0100018044IU

Free materials for K-12

The following is a recommended site for some free teacher made materials in French, Spanish, Thai, Italian, Chinese, English, and English as a Second Language.

http://miscositas.com/

http://www.facebook.com/pages/MisCositascom/190662591830

New ACTA College Rankings include a Foreign Language Requirement

The American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) has formed a promising new system of ranking colleges.

Their website, WhatWillTheyLearn.com, focuses on seven core subjects: composition, literature, foreign language, U.S. government or history, economics, mathematics, and natural/physical science. The more of these core subjects a given university requires, the higher their "grade" will be....

For more information, please see:

Editorial: New college ranking system gives more accurate view

Claire Taylor Lariat Staff

http://www.baylor.edu/lariat/news.php?action=story&story=65807

To see how major colleges rank, see http://whatwilltheylearn.com/