A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

APPLICATION NO     :    R215E40027 APPLICANT          :    Texas Education Agency                         1701 North Congress Avenue                         Austin, Texas  78701-1494 CONTACT PERSON	   :    M. Inez Garcia TELEPHONE      	   :    (512) 463-9556 AWARD TO DATE      :    $341,158 PROJECT PERIOD     :    10/01/94-09/30/97 

The purpose of the Excellence and Challenge: Expectations for Language Learners (EXCELL) Project is to raise all Texas' student abilities in foreign languages to high and challenging standards. This project will provide a framework for a challenging curriculum and innovative instruction by enhancing the capacities of Texas teachers to teach foreign languages through collaboratively-designed professional education programs and strengthened professional development opportunities. The Texas Education Agency, working in collaboration with public and private institutions of higher education, Regional Education Service Centers, professional organizations, and other national- and state-based educational entities, will achieve the following objectives:

1. Develop and pilot foreign language content standards that reflect high expectations for all students K-Grade 12.
2. Develop model guidelines for effective approaches to teacher education and certification based upon high standards in foreign languages.
3. Develop criteria for teacher recertification and pilot model inservice professional development programs based on high standards in foreign languages.

This systemic effort will involve collaboration with local school districts and nonpublic schools, public and private institutions of higher education, business and community leaders, and professional educational organizations. The effort will result in the creation of Texas content and performance standards in foreign languages that have been aligned with standards being developed nationally by the Foreign Language K-12 Student Standards Project. In the second year of the project, the focus of the work will be to develop successful strategies for delivering the state content standards in preservice teacher education. Finally, also during the second and third project years, model professional development programs which will retrain teachers to more effectively deliver the content standards will be designed and implemented.

Information about the EXCELL Project will be disseminated both statewide by the Project and nationally in collaboration with the National Council of State Supervisors of Foreign Languages. The evaluation of the EXCELL Project will include peer review of products as well as the process used to develop those products. The utility and quality of the content standards will be validated through pilot testing and review by expert professionals and the public through surveys, individual interviews, and observations.

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