Additional Guidance on Seal of Biliteracy
The Department has issued additional guidance on the Seal of Biliteracy during COVID-19. This additional guidance on the Seal of Biliteracy is meant to provide greater flexibility for districts offering the seal. This guidance only applies to students graduating in 2020 AND those who have not yet met requirements.
To meet the English requirement, there are numerous assessment options outlined in the original guidance document such as the former Iowa assessments, ACT, etc. As a reminder, students just need to demonstrate proficiency on ONE of those assessments at some point between 9th-12th grade.
To meet the second language requirement, we have identified assessments being offered virtually. The exams identified are assessments that many districts already use to meet this second language requirement. These options can be used or districts can ask students to complete a portfolio to demonstrate knowledge of the second language in the four domains- reading, writing, speaking, and listening. This option already exists in the original seal guidance, but is normally only an option in which no approved assessment exists. View the additional guidance here.
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ACTFL Releases New Resources
ACTFL has released several new resources in response to COVID-19. These include webinars, article access, virtual learning modules, and much more.
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News from the Mexican Consulate in Omaha
As part of the educational promotion activities carried out within the framework of the Bilateral Forum on Higher Education, Innovation and Research (FOBESII), this Consulate requests your kind support to disseminate among the institutions and academic community of Nebraska and Iowa the Program “ Acceso ASU ”, developed by Arizona State University (ASU), in collaboration with four of the main universities in Mexico.
Acceso ASU is a distance program aimed at DREAMers and Spanish-speaking students that gives them the opportunity to access an offer of 978 online courses in collaboration with the University of Guadalajara (UdG), Universidad Tecnológica de México (UNITEC), TecMilenio University and the Tecnológico de Monterrey, with a preferential tuition cost and with the possibility of validating the credits obtained in any of the ASU study programs. You can see more information here. For more information and details of the program on the following official site: https://mexico.asu.edu/scholarships#dreamers. And for the available courses please visit the Transfer Guide at https://webapp4.asu.edu/transfercreditguide/app/searchcourses?init=false&nopassive=true
Lead with Languages Scholarship
The 2020 Lead with Languages Teacher Scholarship Program is now accepting applications. Introduced last year, this program provides merit-based scholarships to graduating high school seniors who are committed to pursuing the language teaching profession in languages other than English. Scholars are awarded $1,500 per academic year (renewable three times for a cumulative total of $6,000 per recipient), as well as a one-year membership to ACTFL upon entering the profession. In 2019, ten Scholars were selected to enter the inaugural class.
You can learn more about the Program, including full eligibility requirements and submission procedures, on our Lead with Languages site. Please share this information with interested high school seniors and broadly within your network.
Applications must be submitted online on or before Friday, May 29, 2020.
The Basics of Teaching Languages Online
The Occidental College World Language Project has created a new web page devoted to the basics of teaching world languages online. Check it out here.
Center for Applied Linguistics Resources
The Center for Applied Linguistics has a treasure trove of materials available in Spanish. This includes access to national textbooks of Mexico in Spanish in several content areas such as history, art, geography, math, etc. You can also access links to TV shows, art, music, etc. in Spanish. Check out these resources here.
Online AP Chinese Summer Institute
Please consider attending an ONLINE AP Chinese Summer Institute led by Professor Miao-fen Tseng (曾妙芬老师) this July to keep abreast of the newest development of course and exam and engage in in-depth discussions about practical takeaways. A new curricular framework is officially launched this coming fall, and the course audit process requires new insights for rigorous syllabus writing and design. Using authentic materials to create authentic tasks and assessments is essential for the success of course as printed textbooks are becoming marginal and supplementary. The institute is completely ONLINE. Learners will benefit from a combination of synchronous and asynchronous sessions featuring highly interactive and engaging training modules. Be reassured that participating in Tseng Laoshi’s ONLINIE AP Chinese summer institute will be a refreshing experience for you to envision how interactive and effective an online course could be. Pre-AP Chinese language teachers are also welcome to attend. Please directly contact 曾妙芬老师 at mt3z@virginia.edu for further questions and visit the following College Board website to complete registration https://eventreg.collegeboard.org/c/calendar/54ae034d-96ef-4609-8458-c7c7a76ad3b9.
AP CHINESE Summer Institute #1 led by TSENG Laoshi
Dates: July 13-17 (Monday-Friday)
Host Institution: Woodward Academy in Atlanta, GA
AP CHINESE Summer Institute #2 led by TSENG Laoshi
Dates: July 27-31 (Monday-Thursday)
Host Institution: University of South Florida in Tampa, FL
Stefanie Rosenberg Wager
Social Studies Consultant
21st Century Skills- Civic and Financial Literacy
World Languages
Iowa Department of Education
Grimes State Office Building
400 E. 14th Street
Des Moines, IA 50319
Phone: 515-725-7842
Cell: 515-419-2876
Fax: 515-242-5988
Email: stefanie.wager@iowa.gov
Social Studies standards, website, Iowa Core Social Studies, newsletter, calendar, Pinterest
Financial Literacy website, newsletter, Pinterest
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