Conference Report #6: Elementary Foreign Language

It's strange to me that Loudoun's Foreign Language in the Elementary School (FLES) and Spanish at the Middle School (SAMS) programs don't get more respect. FLES & SAMS provide instruction in the second-most prevalent language spoken in American homes and businesses (Spanish) to every Grade 1-6 student every week, at an age when their brains are at the best developmental stage to acquire language skills. At this year's conference, a workshop on the program by Foreign Language Supervisor Suzette Whys drew a standing-room only audience all morning long. Other school districts are clamoring for information on how to implement this program in their own schools.

Earlier this year a group of parents asked me for more information about FLES, and I was able to get very good answers to their questions. I'll share them with you here:

1. How much does FLES Cost?

Cost for elementary foreign language program (44 teachers)	$3,131,744
Curriculum, materials, training and mileage	$ 52,339
TOTAL:	$3,184,083

2. What has been the improvement in language test scores, when did the improvements begin?
Foreign language does not have any standardized tests at the elementary and middle school level that can be used to measure improvement. The FLES pilot cohort is currently in grade 7.

3. What is the research underlying the FLES program?
There is extensive research on language acquisition and the advantages of learning a language earlier rather than later. Some of the current research supports the findings of previous studies. Here are a few recent findings:

a. Learning language at an early age is a brain booster –
Researchers from University College London studied the brains of 105 people - 80 of whom were bilingual. They found learning other languages altered grey matter - the area of the brain which processes information - in the same way exercise builds muscles.
People who learned a second language at a younger age were also more likely to have more advanced grey matter than those who learned later. Lead researcher Andrea Mechelli, of the Institute of Neurology at UCL, said the findings explained why younger people found it easier to learn second languages.

b. The sum of two languages is greater than the parts-
In the York University team's report, titled "Bilingualism, Biliteracy, and Learning to Read: Interactions among Languages and Writing Systems," the first advantage bilingual students possessed is that bilingual students become used to thinking of more than one word relating to a given object (for instance, "árbol" and "tree" both describing or representing the same object), they are more sensitive to language as a system made up of distinct sounds. This sensitivity can be transferred to reading as the child learns to associate the letters in print with sounds.

c. Bilingual students don't have to reinvent the alphabet-
The second advantage the York University team found was "the potential for transfer of reading principles across the languages," or the likely possibility that children will take the methods and insights they've built up in one language and apply them to advance much more rapidly in the other language.

d. Learning a new language teaches you more about your own language-
A child just setting out to learn a new language also learns many new things about how languages work. For many older kids, knowledge of English grammar is commonly solidified by learning a foreign language.

e. The National Commission on Excellence in Education has maintained that achieving proficiency in a second world language takes from four to six years of study, and is best begun in the elementary grades.

f. Recent research on the developing brain supports the initiation of learning a second language during the early elementary school years in order to take advantage of the natural process of language acquisition during this "critical period of development.”

g. Children have the ability to learn and excel in the pronunciation of a foreign language (Krashen, et al. 1982).

h. Participation in early foreign language learning shows no sacrifice of basic skills, but rather shows positive results in areas of standardized testing. English, Language Arts, Math and SAT scores were shown to have significant gains. (Rafferty, 1986; Garfinkel & Tabor, 1991; Armstrong & Rogers, 1997)

i. Children who had studied a foreign language show greater cognitive development in such areas as mental flexibility, creativity, divergent thinking, and higher order thinking skills. (Landry, 1974; Hakuta, 1990)

j. Foreign language study has shown to enhance listening skills, memory and a greater understanding of one's own language. (Lapkin, et al., 1990)

k. Children studying a foreign language have an improved self-concept and sense of achievement in school. (Holobrow, et al., 1987; Caine & Caine, 1997)

l. Children who have studied a foreign language develop a sense of cultural pluralism, openness and appreciation of other cultures. (Pesola, 1991; Curtain, 1993; Met, 1995)

4. Would the same progress be made if FLES were only in grades 3-5?
No. Time is a critical component of language acquisition process. A review of the research on early language learning indicates that bilingual and monolingual children who begin the study of a second language at an early age (ages 2- 9) and are enrolled in continuous, long-sequence program can benefit in terms of mathematical and literacy development. However, researchers find the highest correlation between second language development and critical thinking and problem solving skills. The development of a native-like accent (pronunciation and intonation) is also linked to a window of opportunity or critical age, before age 9, to begin the study of a second language.

5. Why Does FLES focus on vocabulary and not grammar?
Grammar is introduced but not in the traditional sense. FLES is taught utilizing what current research defines as best practice. The human brain acquires language in this sequence: listening, speaking, reading, writing. In a communicative environment, language is best acquired by first building aural skills. In a contextualized form, grammar structures are used in the development of these skills. Since many grammatical structures are patterns, through continued exposure and use students begin to use these structures correctly.

Conference Report #5: Strategic Instruction Model

Sometimes I run across something that reminds me just what a technical profession teaching has become. At this year's conference I accidentally joined a session called "The Content Literacy Continuum: A Framework for Addressing the Needs of All Adolescents at the Secondary Level." I thought it would be about a kind of content literacy that I'm familiar with: understanding how to understand, interpret and evaluate various information sources for accuracy, bias and applicability.

This session was instead about a program that shows teachers how to target their teaching methods to assist students at various reading levels to better understand the topic of the class. There are studies, articles, white papers, matrices, instructional tools, entire courses on this one subject.

I'm not going to try to explain it here, this sort of topic really isn't the subject of this blog. What it does bring home for me, and I hope for you, is that teaching isn't what it used to be. It has become a highly technical profession with a constantly evolving body of science behind it and a dramatically broader mission in terms of not just academics but child development. Continuing education is an absolute requirement.

I need to find a good way to convey this when budget time comes around again.

Conference Report #4: Teacher Recruitment (Fishing in a Puddle)

The simple fact is that the supply of highly qualified new teachers is not enough to satisfy the demand. The shortage of teachers is especially acute among minority populations, making it very difficult to build a faculty that reflects the diversity of the student population. I already knew these things, but I attended a session to learn more in the hopes that it would inspire new ideas in me. Here's what I discovered:

• Special Education, Mathematics and Science are the most difficult subjects to find teachers for.
• Virginia graduated 3,066 new teachers from its teaching schools in 2005, 3,407 in 2006. Loudoun County alone needs more than 800 new teachers per year, and we're fourth in size among Virginia school divisions (Prince William, Virgnina Beach and Fairfax are larger). These four divisions alone could swallow every new Virginia teaching graduate, leaving 130 other school divisions to look elsewhere.
• States across the country offer signing bonuses, tuition forgiveness, free graduate courses, housing assistance and more to fill their toughest positions.
• 20% of new teachers leave the profession within three years. Half leave because of job dissatisfaction and those most likely to leave are those with the highest college entrance exam scores.
• Most state and federal programs that Virginia teachers would qualify for require that they teach in underserved or underpeforming schools, meaning that they won't get those incentives to teach here in Loudoun. We've got to create our own incentives.
  

In the midst of this environment many in our community dispute whether we should offer raises to our teachers every year. You can bet that I'll bring this up again when budget time rolls around.

Conference Report #3: Environmental Sustainability

Loudoun County Public Schools prides itself on energy efficiency and is searching constantly to find ways to save resources for both environmental and budget reasons. Virginia Beach Public Schools share this emphasis and provided an excellent summary of their efforts. I attended this presentation to learn what programs they have had success with. Here's what I found out:

• In 2005 they opened the first LEED certified elementary school in Virginia. All new buildings and major renovations are performed to LEED Silver certification standards. Loudoun is moving in this direction as well, but VBPS is staying ahead of the curve, studying a design for LEED Platinum buildings.
• The school district sees itself as responsible for educating not just the children but also the entire community.
• Virginia Beach's Mayor has signed the Mayor's Climate Protection Agreement, providing additional emphasis and policy support to the program.
• The district instituted a Sustainable Schools Committee made up of various departments. This committee is responsible for implementation and monitoring of sustainability programs.

The presenters advocated clear policies implemented by the School Board, but their own policies are still in the draft stage. They are also interested in implementing an energy savings incentive program, something I have proposed at LCPS.

To find out more, visit Virginia Beach Public Schools' Green Schools website.

Conference Report #2: After-School Mentoring for Middle School Girls

Having two middle-school girls myself, this was a topic of particular interest. I have a friend who started a mentoring program for middle-school girls last year and grew very frustrated with it as she worked so hard and saw few positive outcomes.

Thus it was very encouraging to learn about the Young Women Leaders Program created by the University of Virginia. Under this program, girls are matched with women from local colleges who are trained as mentors. They spend time together independently, often sampling campus recreational life to encourage the girls to consider working towards higher education during their time in secondary schools. In addition there are regular group meetings to teach skills, share challenges and advice and work on service projects.

Programs based on this approach are established not just in Virginia but also Florida, Connecticut and even overseas in Mozambique. The most encouraging aspect of the presentation was the emphasis on a research-based program design. This is an early-intervention program with a very targeted population. The program looks for referrals by school counselors for girls who are not currently receiving many social services, who have demonstrated leadership skills, but who seem to be at risk for making poor choices in their lives as they struggle with the challenges of early adolescence.

People interested in starting a YWLP group should refer to the YWLP website for information on How to Start a Sister Site. I'll be referring my frustrated friend and encouraging her to try again with a new approach.

Conference Report #1: Food Back Pack Program

With all the time we spend focused on Loudoun County's challenges, sometimes it is helpful to get perspective by considering the challenges that Virginia's small rural school districts face.

Northwood Middle School in Smyth County serves a very impoverished student population. Six times as many families live below the poverty line as in Loudoun County. Over half of the Middle School's 200 students receive free or reduced-price meals from school, and for many of them, those are the only good meals that they eat. Students frequently come to school on Monday morning and ask for two breakfast servings because they've had little more than soda and chips all weekend. Sports teams competing on the weekend are fed prior to games to ensure that they've eaten that day.

Nearly three years ago, school counselor Betty Webb instituted the Food Back Pack program in response. It is an attempt to help the poorest students get good nutrition over the weekend when they're away from the school cafeterias. Local charities donate backbpacks and foods. Peanut butter and crackers are a staple. Canned foods and juices are also common. During the week, the school's Work and Family Studies classes work on an assembly line to fill the backpacks. On Friday afternoons, students pick up the backpacks on their way out the door and return them empty the next week to repeat the process. The cost of the program is $20,000 to serve over 40% of the student population for the year. Over 60% of last year's sixth grade class participated.

Through one program requiring no new employees and little administrative overhead, children get a backpack full of food every weekend at a cost of about six dollars each. Students are involved not only as recipients but as volunteers. This is a good example of how schools sometimes get involved in more than just the three Rs and in the process save the community a lot of money. Schools are often best able to identify and assist chidren because that's where children spend most of their time when they aren't with their own families.

Richmond Summary

We've just wrapped up the Governor's Conference on Education here in Richmond and I'll be headed home soon. I attended a total of six sessions today on a variety of topics and in the coming days I'll provide my report to you on each of them.

1. Teacher Candidate Supply & Demand
2. Food Back Pack Program
3. The Content Literacy Continuum
4. Environmental Sustainability
   After School Mentoring for Middle School Girls
5. Limited English Proficiency (LEP) caucus of Virginia School Board members and Administrators.

In addition to the sessions I attended were four presentations given to attendees from across the state by Loudoun County administrators. They were:

1. Foreign Language Instruction in Grades 1-6: Its Impact on Secondary Programs by Syzette Wyhs
2. The Loudoun County Teacher Cadet Program by Cara LeGrys
3. Principal Partnerships - Professional Collegiality by Ilene Banker & Jan Emerick-Brothers
4. The Claude Moore Scholars Program by Shirley Bazdar

Finally, I sought out the presentation materials from Harrisburg City Schools on their lessons learned from a successful Elementary & Middle school redistricting. It was funny to introduce myself to the gentleman who gave the presentation, who shook his head and laughed when he learned I was from Loudoun and said "There isn't anything I can teach you. You guys do this every year." Hearing that, seeing the interest in the LCPS presentations, and knowing that I can bypass so many seminars that Board members from other areas of the state are clamoring to get into because their districts don't have our level of expertise, renews my awareness the Loudoun Schools are well respected across the state for professional excellence.

With all of the challenges that we face, all that we struggle with, we are in many ways envied by School Boards and communities near and far. We have much to be thankful for.

2008 Governor's Conference on Education

I'll be in Richmond today and tomorrow for the 2008 Governor's Conference on Education. I'm sure that it's held in the middle of summer to avoid conflict with other obligations, and yet there are two other events tonight that I'll miss in order to be there. I'm sure that I'll find some interesting to report on, just as I did last year:

2007 Report #1: Energy Conservation
2007 Report #2: Is Green Design Right for your Schools?
2007 Report #3: An Evaluation Process for Program Improvement
2007 Report #4: Designing High Schools for the 21st Century

Charlottesville Conferences

I have been swamped, and this blog has had to take a back seat to the day-to-day demands of work, family and school boad duties. At the moment I'm sitting in a hotel conference room in Charlottesville for a Policy Workshop sponsored by the Virginia School Boards Association. I love Charlottesville, but as often as I come here now I never see the parts I love. I see the strip malls along the route from 29 to the hotel in the morning, and I see them again when lunch breaks a little before 2pm and I head back home to get my kids from school.


This is my second trip to Charlottesville this month. Prior to today's policy workshop I attended dealt with school distrtict finances and featured a fantastic presentation by LCPS Assistant Superintendent for Business & Finance Leigh Burden. Leigh has been with LCPS for less than a year but comes with tremendous experience from other Virginia districts. Can you imagine a drier topic than oversight of public finances? Leigh made it very entertaining, very informative, and I think that folks in Loudoun should feel good that out of 135 Virginia school districts our CFO is so highly thought of that she is invited to lecture on the topic (this wasn't her first presentation, and she has already been invited back again). She also picked up on ping pong pretty quickly.

For those of you who are interested in what we're being told, VSBA puts some materials and presentations online.

So today I'm here learning about changes to state legislation and about various policy resources. I expect to enjoy it, I'm a policy geek and I make no apologies for that. I'll collect a number of potential updates to LCPS policies to bring them into compliance with recent changes in state law, and at about 1:30 I'll head back north to pick up my kids.

I'll be back here again on June 6th together with Mssrs. Marshall and Ohneiser for a one-day conference on Virginia school law. At the end of July I'll be in Richmond for a training session for new Chairs & Vice Chairs and then the Governor's Conference on Education. And hopefully after each one of these, I'll be a little bit better representative for you.

Report #4 from Conference

Session IV: Designing High Schools for the 21st Century
Presented by Dr. Kevin Castner, VP of Educational Services, SHW Group LLP. Dr. Castner is a former Virginia schools superintendent and plays golf on occasion with our own Dr. Hatrick and Mr. Waterhouse.

Presentation:
The presentation focused on integrating modern instructional ideals into construction planning. A powerpoint presentation was provided and referenced books, reports and articles about education in a modern digital world. The principles covered were Student-centered learning, digital delivery, interdisciplinary learning and improved methods of assessment. In essence, the case was made that our schools are still built on a 1950s architectural model, which was appropriate for a 1950s economy.

Reference Materials:
The World is Flat, Thomas Friedman
Don’t Bother Me Mom – I’m Learning, Mark Prensky
Report from the National Summit on School Design
Results that Matter: 21st Century Skills and High School Reform
A Whole Mind – Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age, Daniel Pink

Recommendation:
Because Loudoun County will build three new high schools in the next six years and because of our wealth as a community, we are uniquely positioned to take advantage of this kind of thinking and new design. Unfortunately we won’t. The financial pressure brought on by constantly building new schools makes major innovation beyond our reach given our low-tax priorities. Innovation will be seen first in Montgomery, Arlington and Fairfax counties, which have the resources but also a stable student population.

LCPS should still take steps toward innovation with each new building design. Many will not be realized in brick & mortar during our political lifetimes, but progress in Virginia is made step by step, not in leaps & bounds.

Report #3 from Conference

Session III: An Evaluation Process for Program Improvement
Presented by Chantal Follett and Lidi Hruda, Evaluation Specialists with the Fairfax County Office of Program Evaluation
Presentation:
Fairfax County has a process for evaluating programs for long-term success. This process was developed and implemented by professional, certified Evaluators on staff with FCPS. In a nutshell, programs are nominated for evaluation by administrators at any level. The full-time staff of six evaluators has determined its capacity to evaluate sixteen programs simultaneously. After following a process to establish evaluability of each proposed program, the Superintendent and School Board decide which programs will be evaluated. Each evaluation lasts for three years and is designed to help the programs set and achieve goals for effectiveness and sustainability. Programs which are not able to meet these goals are recommended for modification or discontinuation.

Given that Loudoun County does not have a dedicated office for evaluation, Fairfax County agreed to provide resources to assist us in developing a modified process suitable for our administrative structure. The presenters cautioned that for uncertified evaluators, making recommendations for program continuation and modification may be difficult.

Materials:
The presenters provided a process flow sheet and an evaluation tool called a “Box Score Sheet” that provides an executive summary for program evaluation. The Box Score Sheet contains benchmarks of four Program Components and twelve Program Component Standards. The sheet explains each of the scoring standards and displays the per-student program cost. It concludes with a recommendation of “Continue As Is” / “Modify” / “Discontinue”.
The presenters also provided a data sheet with contact information for assistance.

Questions:
What processes does LCPS have to identify programs for evaluation, conduct the evaluation and recommend modifications?
Can a process such as this improve on that of LCPS?

Recommendation:
Refer questions to Curriculum and Instruction Committee.

Report #2 from Conference

Session II: Is Green Design Right for your Schools?
Randy Hudson, Hayes Large Architects

Presentation
Randy Hudson provided a primer on the LEED system of environmental construction principles, including the newly published LEED standards for school construction. The true benefit of the workshop lay in the wealth of materials provided, which are cited below.

Materials

1. Report: “Greening America’s Schools: Costs and Benefits”
2. NY Times: “The Power of Green” by Thomas Friedman
3. Washington Post: “Thoughts of a Conservative Conservationist” by Gov. Mark Sanford (R-SC)
4. Harvard Business Review: “Competitive Advantage on a Warming Planet” by Jonathan Lash and Fred Wellington
5. School Construction News: “Pennsylvania Elementary School Meets the Green Standard”
6. Hayes Large Architects: “Why Geothermal Makes Sense”
7. Bibliography of Web & Print Resources

Questions
In an April 2007 briefing to the Finance, Construction and Site Acquisition Committee on environmental school construction and LEED certifications, Mosely Architects recommended against the use of Geothermal Heat Pumps in school construction. HLA recommends hybrid systems for our area that incorporate GHPs. What is the right answer for future construction and renovation of LCPS facilities?

Recommendations
LCPS Finance, Construction and Site Acquisition committee should explore with staff a new policy by which all new LCPS facilities are designed to a LEED Gold standard, and any major renovation to a school would achieve a LEED Silver certification for that school. This standard could only be waived for individual facilities by majority vote of the full School Board.

Report #1 from Conference

As I mentioned last week, I attended the Governor's Conference on Education in Richmond, organized by the Virginia School Boards Association. It was a very brief affair, starting on Tuesday morning and ending after lunch. The morning consisted primarily of four half-hour sessions on 86 different topics. This week I will post my synopsis of the four sessions that I attended. These are the same documents I will provide to my colleagues on the School Board as we share with each other what we learned. If you would like more information about what topics were available or about the sessions I attended, please let me know or contact the Virginia School Boards Association.

Session I: Energy Conservation in Stafford County Public Schools
Presented by Robert Randall, Energy Manager, Stafford County Schools
Presentation:
Stafford County Schools entered into an Energy Performance Contract in 2006. The Contractor identified six Energy Conservation Measures which will save the district $400,000 annually in utility costs. These ECMs were descrbed by Mr. Randall as the “low hanging fruit” in their energy efficiency efforts. The program will payback in seven years and includes the Energy Manager’s salary.

Materials:
Mr. Randall provided a one-page briefing memo on the basics of the program, a by-school utility comparison summary, and an overview of how energy savings are calculated when energy costs are incurred over a variety of differently-priced energy sources.

Recommendation:
Loudoun County already has a similar Energy Performance Contract and is executing it, the School Board received a briefing on the program in May 2007. The Finance, Construction and Site Acquisition Committee should work with Staff to identify and fund opportunities for further energy conservation during the FY2009 budget development cycle to insulate LCPS against rising energy costs.

State of Workforce Housing

This morning’s Chamber of Commerce event had a real who’s who of County leadership present, with the noticeable and regrettable absence of members of the Board of Supervisors. School Board members Mr. Dupree, Mr. Reed, Ms. Godfrey and Mr. Nuzzaco attended along with me. The CEOs of Telos and Inova Loudoun Hospital were presenters, along with Sheriff Steve Simpson and Tamar Datan Johnston , chairwoman of the Housing Advisory Board and Economic Development Commission (she is superwoman). John Harris, Chairman of the Industrial Development Authority was there, along with other members of the IDA. Sitting with them was Leesburg Mayor Kristen Umstattd and the Director of Family Services, Bob Chirles.

This is the issue that I have spent the past four years working on, prior to joining the School Board, and one that I am passionate about. The HAB, IDA, EDC, ADUAB, Chamber of Commerce, Social Services Board and others are all working hard to resolve this crisis and have concrete measures ready to be implemented, but the Board of Supervisors has been sitting on its hands since 2004. Every time it comes before them, they send it back to committee.

The whole event was put together by the 2007 class of Leadership Loudoun, they are to be applauded for their vision in getting involved with this issue. They created the following Workforce Housing Resource Guide, which now lives on the County's website.

Expect to see a lot more coverage of Loudoun’s workforce housing crisis in the press this year as changes to the County’s housing polices are passed, and demand to know what this year’s local candidates will do next year to turn information into action.