Seattle Public Schools International Education
Resources >Foreign Language Assistance Program Grant 2006-2009The Seattle Chinese FLAP program was launched in three elementary schools in grades K-1 in February/March, 2007: Beacon Hill Elementary, Graham Hill Elementary, and John Muir Elementary. The FLAP program is taught immersion style with students attending class for 30 minutes/day four days/week, for a total of 120 minutes per week. In fall 2007, the program was expanded into 2nd grade at all three schools, and all K-2 students were included. In fall 2008, it expanded into 3rd grade at all three schools, and Beacon Hill became an international schools model (renamed Beacon Hill International) and launched its Mandarin partial immersion (half-day) program in Kindergarten, along with a two-way dual program in Spanish in Kindergarten. Resources created from the grant are shared on these pages to provide both examples of what was done in the program as part of the FLAP grant and template documents that another program might be able to use or modify. Note: documents are all in Adobe Acrobat PDF format unless otherwise indicated. Jump to:
Program Evaluation 2007 |
Program Evaluation 2008 |
Program Evaluation 2009 | Program Evaluation 2007FLAP 2007 Program Evaluation Report FLAP 2007 Program Evaluation Executive Summary The Seattle Chinese FLAP program was launched in three elementary schools in grades K-1 in February/March 2007. All four classes of students in K-1 (total 129 students) participated at Beacon Hill Elementary that spring; one class in each grade participated at Graham Hill Elementary (total 52); and two classes at each grade participated at John Muir Elementary (total 96). A total of 277 students participated across the three schools. The program was taught immersion style with students attending class for 30 minutes/day four days/week, for a total of 120 minutes per week. The initial program evaluation plan was outlined in the FLAP grant submitted by Seattle Public Schools in June, 2006. Based on the plan as outlined in the grant, we drafted a three-year program evaluation plan and reviewed it with the principals from the three elementary schools and Karen Kodama, International Education Administrator for the Seattle Public Schools in April, 2007. The plan was updated at the end of the first year of the FLAP grant: Pre-AssessmentsThe FLAP grant called for a pre-assessment of students’ Mandarin language skills at the beginning of the program. A brief oral interview was designed that was conducted by the three Mandarin teachers with their own students at each of the schools. The Pre-Assessment was conducted about two weeks after Mandarin classes started at Beacon Hill, but before classes started at Graham Hill and John Muir. Most students did not score any points on the Pre-Assessment. Thus, only a few of the 277 students participating in the program demonstrated any prior language knowledge by scoring at least 50% on the Pre-Assessment.
Post-Assessments and Progress Reports for ParentsA brief Post-Assessment interview, similar to the Pre-Assessment, was developed and administered one-on-one with each student in June. The Post-Assessment focused on areas of language and math that the children had experience with during their half-hour a day Mandarin classes, including greetings, numbers, counting, colors, fruits, and shapes. A Rating Scale, or rubric, was designed to measure students’ results on each item. The Post-Assessment ratings and teacher observations (page 2 Comments) were used to generate a Progress Report for parents, which was translated into the major languages of the families of students participating in the program.
End of Year Parent SurveysAt the April Program Evaluation planning meeting, we identified strategies for collecting attitudinal data about the program, including a survey of parents/families. The parent/family surveys were translated into the major languages of the families of the children in the FLAP Chinese program. In addition, we offered an incentive to encourage families to turn their surveys in by June 15. (Students received a red bookmark with the numbers 1-10 in Chinese.) The response rate was quite high (84% from Beacon Hill, 46% from Graham Hill, and 64% from John Muir), and we collected some excellent comments, questions, and suggestions. When asked, “Do you think it’s a good idea for your child to learn to speak Chinese (Mandarin)?,” there was resounding agreement that it was. At Beacon Hill, 91% of families surveyed said “Yes” and 5% “Maybe.” At Graham Hill, 70% said “Yes” and 22% “Maybe.” And at John Muir, 87% said “Yes” and 8% “Maybe.”
End of Year Staff SurveysWe conducted a survey of teachers and staff at each school at a meeting and via paper surveys. We also held meetings with the K-1 classroom teachers at each school to gather their comments. In addition, we met separately with the three Chinese teachers to talk about their impressions and experience of the program. We then summarized key concerns and suggestions into a planning document to assist the principals in making plans for the second year of the program.
Alignment to World Language StandardsAlthough the focus of the Seattle FLAP Chinese program is math content, we still align the program to the Standards for Foreign Language Learning (our state’s Voluntary World Language Standards: http://www.k12.wa.us/curriculuminstruct/WorldLanguages/VoluntaryStandards.aspx). The FLAP Chinese teachers used the template to reflect on how their curriculum through the year aligned with the standards.
Program Evaluation 2008FLAP 2008 Program Evaluation Report FLAP 2008 Program Evaluation Report Executive Summary The initial program evaluation plan was outlined in the FLAP grant submitted by Seattle Public Schools in June, 2006. Based on the plan as outlined in the grant, we drafted a three-year program evaluation plan for the three elementary schools participating in the Chinese language program during winter and spring, 2007: Beacon Hill Elementary, Graham Hill Elementary, and John Muir Elementary. The plan for 2007-8 was revised based on the experience in year 1 of the program and was reviewed with the principals of the three schools and Karen Kodama, International Education Administrator for Seattle Public Schools, several times during the year. That plan has been updated based on results during spring 2008. Pre-AssessmentsThe pre-assessment of students’ Mandarin language skills at the beginning of the program was completed for all kindergarteners and new students in 1st or 2nd grade. Overall, 77% of the students assessed (205 out of 267) earned zero points, i.e. they could not complete any of the language tasks in Mandarin (greetings, counting, colors, etc.). Only 7 students (including 3 kindergarteners at Beacon Hill) showed any measurable language skills.
Mid-Year AssessmentK-2 Students at all three elementary schools in the Chinese FLAP program participated in Mid-Year Assessment oral interviews conducted by their classroom teachers. During the last two weeks of January, 2008, in place of the regular classroom instruction, the Mandarin teachers met with each student for a brief oral interview consisting of 17 questions involving Greetings, Colors, Numbers/Sizes, Fruits/Likes & Dislikes, Shapes, and several Conversational Questions. The results from the assessments were summarized in a database and converted into information for a Mid-Year Progress Report sent home to the parents in mid-February.
ELLOPA (Early Language Listening & Oral Proficiency Assessment)The Chinese teachers completed ELLOPA (Early Language Listening and Oral Proficiency Assessment) interviews during the two weeks following the end of the Chinese language classes on May 22.The teachers translated the ELLOPA script into Chinese and adapted it to be appropriate for each of their programs. We used a modified Rating Sheet from the Center for Applied Linguistics (www.cal.org). We also requested permission to use any videos made for training purposes.
Year-End Progress Reports to Families and Student Self-AssessmentsWe provided a general newsletter from each teacher highlighting the accomplishments of the students in the Chinese classes, accompanied by a self-assessment from their child. We developed the self-assessment template based on a model in LinguaFolio (http://www.ncssfl.org/links/index.php?linguafolio). The Chinese teachers reported that the students were very serious when completing their self-assessments. They really wanted to reflect on what they could do in Mandarin.
End of Year Family SurveysThe one-page parent/family surveys were sent home by the teachers with the end-of-year progress report newsletter and student self-assessments at the end of May. We provided translations of the survey for the two largest language groups, Spanish and Chinese. Overall, we had a good return rate from families representing many ethnicities.
End of Year Staff SurveysStaff at all three schools had an opportunity to complete the paper survey. We then gathered and summarized the responses.
Alignment to World Language StandardsThe FLAP Chinese teachers used the template to reflect on how their curriculum through the year aligned with our state's Voluntary World Language Standards (http://www.k12.wa.us/WorldLanguages/VoluntaryStandards.aspx).
Program Evaluation 2009FLAP 2009 Program Evaluation Final Report August 2009 FLAP 2009 Program Evaluation Report Executive Summary August 2009 The initial program evaluation plan was outlined in the FLAP grant submitted by Seattle Public Schools in June 2006. Based on the plan as outlined in the grant, Michele Anciaux Aoki, a consultant working with the school district on the FLAP grant, drafted a three-year program evaluation plan for the three elementary schools participating in the Chinese language program during winter and spring 2007: Beacon Hill, Graham Hill, and John Muir. The plan for 2007-8 was revised based on the experience in year 1 of the program and was reviewed with the principals of the three schools and Karen Kodama, International Education Administrator for Seattle Public Schools, several times during the year. Most recently that plan was updated based on results from spring 2008. The 2008-2009 updated plan was used as the basis for the program evaluation activities conducted in this final year of the FLAP grant, under the coordination of Aysha Haq. Pre-AssessmentsIn September 2008, the Pre-Assessment interview was administered to new K, 1, and 2 students at the three schools. Most students, 91 percent, did not score higher than 7 points on the Pre-Assessment, as reported in the April 2009 FLAP grant report. Mid-Year AssessmentK-3 students at all three elementary schools participating in the Chinese FLAP program were given Mid-Year Assessment oral interviews. During the last two weeks of January 2009, in place of the regular classroom instruction, the Mandarin teachers met with each student one by one for a brief oral interview consisting of questions involving greetings, colors, numbers/sizes, fruits/likes & dislikes, shapes, and several conversational questions. Kindergartners were given a slightly different assessment, which consisted of 8 questions, with a possible highest score of 16, while grades 1-3 were given an assessment with 11 questions, with a possible highest score of 22. The results from the assessments were summarized in a database and converted into information for a Mid-Year Progress Report sent home to parents in mid-February/early March.
ELLOPA (Early Language Listening & Oral Proficiency Assessment)
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