How to Bring Our Schools Out of the 20th Century - Guilderland ...

Executive Summary
• The Guilderland Foreign Language Early Start program in Spanish, will begin in 2007-08
beginning in kindergarten to second grade and will provide both language proficiency and
cultural awareness. In the 2008-09 school year the program will be extended to grades 3 to
5. As defined in this report, “proficiency is the ability to effectively communicate in a second
language with a native speaker in real-life situations.” (Page 4.) Spanish was chosen
because it represents the largest and fastest growing minority in the United States and is
considered an unofficial second language. It will not interfere with first language
acquisition.
• Summer curriculum work in 2007 will focus on the development of learning objectives and
knowledge and skill outcomes for students by grade level. Both primary and supplementary
instructional materials will also be developed and curriculum maps completed using Rubicon
Atlas Software.
• The Guilderland FLES program will be a content-coordinated thematic approach designed to
enrich the existing elementary curriculum program. It will be based on New York State core
curricula and district curriculum in content areas.
• Classroom teachers and Spanish teachers will be partners in order to reinforce the learning
connections with other language learning experiences. Instruction by the Spanish teacher
will occur in the regular classroom with the classroom teacher present. The classroom
teacher will not be responsible for children’s assessment in Spanish. Like enrichment,
Spanish will not be individually assessed on the progress report.
• Effective elementary second language teachers will require knowledge and skills in both
early childhood education and Spanish. These positions will require either a combination of
elementary education and secondary Spanish certificate, or a secondary Spanish certificate
with an elementary extension.
• Staff development for both classroom teachers and elementary Spanish teachers will be well
planned and supportive, overseen by the Supervisor for Foreign Language and ESL Services.
• A systematic program of parent communication, including informational newsletters and
presentations will occur.
• Program assessment will be ongoing and continuous.
• The estimated cost of the program will be approximately $128,060 for the first year. (See
budget on page 15.)
• The foreign language supervisor has spoken with other schools regarding FLES
implementation and its impact on language choice at the middle level. Students in grade 6
will still have a choice. As in other schools, many will choose another language. Currently
in sixth grade the breakdown is as follows:
71% in Spanish 23% in French 6% in German
3