The World Language Implementation Committee recommends that the State Board adopt the following goal and accompanying action steps.

All Vermont children will begin the study of a foreign language in the primary grades (PK-4), and they will meet a minimum of novice middle proficiency by the end of eighth grade. All Vermont school districts will coordinate foreign language curriculum from primary grades through high school.

In order to meet this goal, we recommend the following action steps:

1. School Quality Standards be amended to include foreign language as part of the core curriculum (minimum course of study) for grades 7-8 by school year 2007-08.
2. School Quality Standards be amended to include foreign language as part of the core curriculum (minimum course of study) for elementary students, beginning no later than grade 4 and consisting of a minimum of 75 minutes per week of instruction, no later than school year 2010-11.
3. The State DOE provide technical support to schools in the use of LinguaFolio as a model assessment for foreign language competency. All schools will use the LinguaFolio Passport as a common assessment tool by school year 2010-11.
4. The SBE appoint a committee to oversee implementation of these recommendations, to include identifying and developing models for integration of foreign languages into the rest of the curriculum, professional development in curriculum and assessment, and support for other needs as schools build their foreign language programs.
5. The State DOE become a Responsible Officer for the J-1 visiting teacher program and enter into memorandums of understanding with other countries to facilitate visiting teacher and teacher exchange opportunities.
6. The State DOE forgive the fee for an additional endorsement in Modern and Classical Languages for any applicant who already has an endorsement in Elementary Education.
7. The SBE and State DOE work with the legislature to develop legislation to encourage training of teachers in K-12 foreign language instruction, perhaps through forgiving student loans for those who become language teachers.

The Committee also notes that Sen. Dunne has introduced legislation to support instruction in international education and foreign languages. This bill includes some overlap with our recommendations. We suggest that the State Board invited Sen. Dunne to its March meeting for a discussion of our common interests and how we might work together to achieve them.