Projects

National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center (NFLRC)

Funder: U.S. Department of Education, International Research and Studies Program, via subcontract from Iowa State University

August 2006 – August 2010

CAL conducts a variety of activities for the Iowa State University NFLRC, all focusing on the improvement of the nation’s capacity for teaching and learning languages by building a strong foundation in elementary and secondary schools. Projects for 2006-2010 include the development of a Chinese K-5 curriculum and the dissemination of early foreign language resources through a Web site (Ñandutí) and e-mail listserv (Ñandu).

Chinese K-5 Curriculum and Program Development: The goal of this project is to improve and expand the teaching of Chinese at the Kindergarten through grade 5 level by establishing an articulated long-sequence model. Activities include: developing a Chinese K-5 framework and a proficiency-focused Chinese K-3 curriculum, training teachers in classroom techniques reflecting best practices, training teachers in the administration and rating of the Chinese Student Oral Proficiency Assessment (SOPA), collaborating with two schools in the implementation of the Chinese programs, and researching students’ language development in those schools (and control schools) over a three-year period. Learn more.

Reaching Out to K-8 Teachers: Ñandutí Web site and Ñandu Listserv: The goal of this project is to continue to make available to educators two early foreign language resources: Ñandutí, the leading national Web site on early foreign language learning; and Ñandu, an active discussion listserv for preK-8 teachers. Both of these resources, originally developed in collaboration with the Northeast and Islands Regional Educational Laboratory at Brown University, will be maintained throughout the four years of the NFLRC.

Visit the NFLRC Web site, housed at Iowa State University, to learn more about our current collaborations.

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Past projects from 2002-2006 included the development of a framework and test items for an elementary school Spanish listening and reading assessment, the updating of an online directory of K-12 foreign language assessments, and the development of a training manual for CAL K-8 language assessments.

Visit our archive to learn more about these past projects.

Return to CAL's current project list.