What Should A World Language Teacher Know and Be Able to Do?

1. What Should A World Language Teacher Know and Be Able to Do? Dr. Phyllis Jacobson July 2012

2. Presentation Overview • Language Proficiency is Not Enough: Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Needed by Language Teachers • Assessing the Content Knowledge of Language Teachers • Assessing the Pedagogical Performance of Language Teachers • A National Model for Supporting and Assessing Induction and the Career Professional Growth of World Language Teachers

3. Two Key Competencies for Qualifying for a World Language Credential Content Knowledge of the subject to be taught to K-12 students Pedagogical competence to be effective in teaching the subject to K-12 students

4. What Should World Language Teachers Know?

5. Content Knowledge for All World Language Teachers • General Linguistics • Linguistics of the Target Language • Literary and Cultural Texts and Traditions • Cultural Analysis and Comparisons • Language Skills: Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing

6. Defining the Content Content is organized into Domains and Competencies within Domains (“Subject Matter Requirements”) The Subject Matter Requirements define the content that is covered within a subject major program at a college or university, or that is eligible to be covered on the subject matter examination

7. A Closer Look at the Content See Handout on Subject Matter Requirements for Languages Other Than English

8. Assessing the Content Knowledge of World Language Teachers • Two NCLB-Compliant Routes to Demonstrating Subject Matter Competence in California: • College/University Coursework • Examination

9. Complete College/University Coursework that Covers All of the Domains

10. Pass a Subject-Matter Examination that Covers All of the Domains

11. California’s Standardized Exams for World Languages (CSET) • Based on the five content domains • Combination of multiple choice items and constructed response items (including listening, speaking, reading, and writing) • Passing Score Standard based on ACTFL Proficiency levels (Advanced-Low for Western languages and Intermediate-High for non-Western languages) • Available now for twenty languages

12. CSET World Languages Subject Matter Examinations American Sign Arabic Armenian Cantonese Farsi Filipino French German Hebrew Hmong Italian Japanese Khmer Korean Mandarin Portuguese Punjabi Russian Spanish Vietnamese

13. Where to Find Information on the Standardized Assessments for These Languages • http://www.cset.nesinc.com/CS_testguide_opener.asp • Provides subject matter requirements, test guides, and sample questions

14. CSET Example for More Commonly Taught Languages

15. A Closer Look at the Chinese Examination • Three Major Subtests: • General Linguistics and Linguistics of the Target Language • Literary and Cultural Texts and Traditions • Cultural Analysis and Comparisons • Language and Communication (Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing)

16. CSET for Less Commonly Taught Languages

17. A Closer Look at the Farsi (Persian) Language Examination • Two Subtests: • General Linguistics, Linguistics of the Target Language, Literary and Cultural Texts and Traditions, Cultural Analysis and Comparisons • Language and Communication (Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing)

18. Alternative Assessment for Less Commonly Taught Languages

19. How Can We Credential Teachers for All World Languages? • Two-Pronged “Alternative Assessment” Approach Part One: Standardized assessment common to all World Languages Part Two: Local Target Language Skills Assessment

20. Standardized Part of the World Languages Alternative Credentialing Examination • Covers standards-based subject matter requirements of: • General Linguistics • Linguistics of the Target Language • Literary and Cultural Texts and Traditions • Cultural Analysis and Comparisons

21. Exam developed by California’s external testing contractor, Pearson, based on California’s CSET subject matter examinations in other more commonly taught world languages Candidates register with Pearson to take this part of the examination

22. Part Two: Local Language Skills Assessment Measures the four integrated language skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing Performance levels pegged to ACTFL standards (minimal acceptable level is ACTFL Intermediate-High for non-Western languages and Advanced-Low for Western languages) Assessment is conducted by a qualified local assessor agency approved by the Commission

23. Candidates register for the local language assessment with the local approved assessor agency The local approved assessor agency provides candidate passing information to the Commission The Commission matches the standardized score with the local language skills assessment score to determine candidate passing status

24. How Do You Get to Be an Approved Alternative Language Assessor Agency? • Formal application to the Commission includes: • Organizational capacity • Description of assessor qualifications • Description of the integrated assessment of language skills • Description of the passing standard related to ACTFL performance standards

25. So, From the Candidate Perspective Candidates who pass both the Standardized part of the assessment AND the local language skills assessment are deemed to have met the subject matter requirement for the particular World Language The cost for the alternative language assessment process is similar to those for all other world languages

26. Languages Currently Offered Through the Alternative Language Assessment Process • Hebrew • Portuguese • Italian ----and counting

27. Want To See A Sample? • http://www.cset.nesinc.com/CS_testguide_Hebrewopener.asp • Provides test guides and sample test questions for the standardized part of the alternative languages assessment

28. Want More Information? Contacts: Phyllis Jacobson • pjacobson@ctc.ca.gov Donna Anderson • danderson@ctc.ca.gov

29. World Languages and Bilingual Teachers • Easy transition from World Language certification to Bilingual Certification, and vice versa • World Language teachers take two additional subtests for Bilingual Certification • Bilingual Education and Bilingualism; Intercultural Communication; Instruction and Assessment • Geographic ,Historical, Sociopolitical and Sociocultural Contexts

30. Bilingual teachers take two additional subtests for World Language certification: • General Linguistics and Linguistics of the Target Language • Literary and Cultural Texts and Traditions, and Cultural Analysis and Comparisons

31. Both World Language and Bilingual teachers take the same language skills examination (Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing) and must meet the same passing standard of proficiency

32. What Should World Language Teachers Be Able to Do?

33. Teaching Performance Expectations California defines performance standards specifically for beginning teachers, known as the “Teaching Performance Expectations” All beginning teachers, including world language teachers, must meet these standards for certification

34. What are the Teaching Performance Expectations? The integrated set of knowledge, skills, and abilities California expects each beginning teacher, including new World Language teachers, to have Based on California’s Standards for the Teaching Profession as adapted for beginning practice rather than veteran practice

35. How do the TPEs Define Pedagogical Competence? Making subject matter comprehensible to students Assessing student learning Engaging and supporting students in learning Planning instruction and designing learning experiences for students Creating and maintaining effective environments for student learning Developing as a professional educator

36. What Are the Benefits of the TPEs? Allow for common definition and common understanding of our expectations for teachers, including world language teachers Provide a legally defensible basis for evaluation of the performance of teacher candidates Can be used across, and has the same meaning in, all teacher preparation programs in the state

37. Where to Find the Full Set of California’s Teaching Performance Expectations http://www.ctc.ca.gov/educator-prep/TPA-files/CandidateHandbook-AppendixA-TPEs.pdf

38. How Do We Assess the Classroom Performance of World Language Teacher Candidates? California requires ALL beginning elementary and secondary teachers to demonstrate by actual classroom performance with K-12 students that they have mastered the integrated set of knowledge, skills, and abilities required by the Teaching Performance Expectations

39. CALIFORNIA IS A NATIONAL LEADER! We are the first and only state in the nation to require a teaching performance assessment of all candidates as a credentialing requirement

40. What is a Teaching Performance Assessment? • An assessment that requires candidates to demonstrate with their performance with K-12 students that they have mastered the knowledge, skills and abilities required of a beginning teacher, as exemplified in the Teaching Performance Expectations (TPEs).

41. Common Features of the Three Approved TPA Models • Based on the Teaching Performance Expectations (TPEs) • Require candidates to perform specified tasks/activities with K-12 students • Require candidate orientation and practice in the TPA tasks/activities • Embed tasks within the teacher preparation program sequence • Provide assessor training, calibration and recalibration

42. Common Features of Approved TPA Models (continued) • Use a rubric-based score of 1-4 (different models may require different minimum score levels) • Require double scoring to maintain scoring reliability • Provide feedback to candidates • Provide opportunities for candidates to retake a task if needed • Provide candidate information useful for induction • Provide information for program improvement

43. What Does the Teaching Performance Assessment Look Like?

44. We ask candidates to: • Learn about their students • Plan standards-based world language lessons for the whole class based on what they know about the students and their progress • Indicate lesson adaptations for English learner students and for special education students • Develop student assessments, including adaptations, to determine student learning based on the lessons • Teach the lesson • Give the assessment(s) • Reflect on the lesson and the assessment results

45. Make a video of a 20 minute lesson segment • Review the video, the student work and the assessment outcomes • Reflect on the success and outcomes of the lesson and the assessment • Use the analysis to plan the next set of lessons for these students • Explain the process and what has been learned to the supervisor or mentor

46. Overview of the CalTPA Model Four Candidate Tasks: • Subject-Specific Pedagogy • Does the candidate understand current methods of teaching and assessing the content area? • Designing Instruction • Can the candidate learn about students and use that information to plan appropriate standards-based lessons?

47. CalTPA Tasks Overview, cont. • Assessing Learning • Can the candidate learn about students’ prior knowledge, plan appropriate instruction and then assess the outcomes of that instruction? Can the candidate reflect on and use student work, the assessment responses and other information to plan further standards-based instruction and assessment?

48. CalTPA Tasks Overview, Cont. • Culminating Teaching Experience • Can the candidate put it all together: learning about students, planning and delivering instruction, assessing student learning, reflecting on student work and lesson outcomes, reflecting on the candidate’s own performance, and using all of that information for future planning, instruction and assessment. Note: This task requires a 20 minute unedited video of the lesson.

49. Important Information for School/District Administrators • English Learner Experiences • Candidates must have experience with English learners sufficient to allow them to complete the TPA tasks • EL experiences may be within the student teaching assignment and/or within field experiences • EL student experience is required for CalTPA tasks 2, 3 and 4

50. Who Assesses the Candidate’s Performance? • University teaching • faculty, field supervisors, • master teachers • K-12 teachers, • supervisors, support • providers, administrators • Retired faculty, teachers, • administrators • Other qualified education • professionals