MIDDLE SCHOOL
- Currently the maximum number of French students is 2 classes - or approximately 55 students. This limits the overall enrollment for the entire French program. Recommendation: Have a teacher from the High School teach a MS class or two based on our needs.
- Spanish decided to not offer ability grouping in 8th grade. The last year we had Spanish 2 MS was the 2019-20 school year. Unintended consequences of ability grouping included: The self-labeling of students "Smart Spanish" or "Dumb Spanish"; increased discipline issues in the "regular" Spanish 8 classes; and limited opportunities for senior year AP based on their performance in 7th grade. Recommendation: Continue to offer Spanish 8 using a hybrid of curriculum from old Spanish 8 course and Spanish 2 MS course.
- Spanish decided to offer a proficiency-based assessment mid-year in 8th grade. This helps to inform student placement for 9th grade: Spanish 2 or Spanish 3. Recommendation: Continue to administer placement exam mid-year in 8th grade year.
- How are Students of Color represented in our curricula? What are the implications for our upcoming curriculum work? Recommendation: Archive resources as we see them for consideration and potential use in our curriculum revisions.
HIGH SCHOOL
Online Courses:
French:
Spanish:
- What are the intended outcomes of each course?
- How successful are the students who are taking online courses?
- What are these students able to DO with these languages at the end? How does this work with ACTFL's Proficiency levels?
- What determines if additional levels will be offered, i.e. ASL?
- How has virtual learning and hybrid instruction impacted students' willingness to enroll in online language courses? Recommendation: Continue tracking enrollment data.
French:
- How is the French program able to maintain a relatively consistent number of students enrolled? Could this be attributed to having the same teacher for 3 years in Middle School and the same one or two teachers at the High School? Recommendation: Continue tracking enrollment data.
- Why is there more diverse representation in French 1, 4, 5, and AP? Recommendation: Continue tracking demographic data.
- What are the implications for curriculum work by having a higher than average Asian population in higher level courses? Recommendation: Archive resources as we see them for consideration and potential use in our curriculum revisions.
- How has the Pandemic impacted enrollment, particularly at higher levels? Recommendation: Continue tracking enrollment data.
- Why is the proportion of French students taking the AP course vs. taking the AP test higher than in Spanish? Recommendation: Continue tracking demographic data.
- How are Afro-francos represented as well as other Francophone cultures? What about diasporas in French-speaking countries? Recommendation: Archive resources as we see them for consideration and potential use in our curriculum revisions.
Spanish:
- What are the implications for curriculum work by having a higher than average Asian population in higher levels? Recommendation: Continue tracking demographic data.
- Why are we losing Black and Hispanic students as they progress through the program, in particular after level 2? Recommendation: Continue tracking demographic data; look at how and what we are teaching at each level and if those courses are meeting their needs.
- How has the Pandemic impacted enrollment, particularly at higher levels? Recommendation: Continue tracking enrollment data.
- Why is the overall sharp drop between upper levels? Recommendation: Continue tracking enrollment data.
- How do we represent Afro-latinx, Asian-latinx voices throughout the program? What about diasporas and Native American groups in Spanish-speaking countries? Recommendation: Archive resources as we see them for consideration and potential use in our curriculum revisions.
GENERAL QUESTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION
- What do teaching and assessment look like at each level? How much time is spent on grammar instruction, practice, and assessment? How does this align with best practice research and ACTFL's Guidelines?
- How do our grading practices impact students' grades, i.e. Homework? Do they represent what we do in class?
- How are our students' backgrounds (race, religion, gender identity, orientation) represented in our curricula? What are we doing well, and what could we do better?
- What are some creative ways to encourage students to continue language study? Could we offer different pathways to reach AP? Could we offer courses that aim toward different career paths (i.e. Medicine, Law, Trades, Hospitality/ Service)?
- How can we adapt curricula, even at the novice level, to explore various relevant, age-appropriate Social Justice issues?