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Pennsylvania Educators Debate Foreign Language Standards

The Pennsylvania Board of Education has set academic standards in subjects ranging from math to family and consumer sciences.

But concerns expressed over the standards for world languages -- another term for foreign languages -- has prompted a committee of the board to recommend guidelines instead.

Karl Girton, chairman of the state Board of Education, said students would be required to demonstrate proficiency in world languages if the state board approved academic standards.

"There have been a number of serious concerns expressed during the roundtables by people across the state" over whether students should be required to be proficient in a second language, Girton said.

"Administrators, curriculum directors, parents, businesspeople -- that's a pretty broad section of people -- they're worried about whether this is a proper investment of resources, principally the time given, the challenges that pretty clearly confront students and schools today in terms of being proficient in math and reading," Girton said.

Educators argue that academic standards for foreign languages are vital.

Bonnie Adair-Hauck, research professor and world language teacher trainer at the University of Pittsburgh, said, "We continue to graduate monolingual kids. In a global society, they're considered uneducated."

Thekla Fall, program officer for world languages for Pittsburgh Public Schools, thinks standards are vital.

Without foreign languages, Fall said, "what's going to happen is the money and resources will go where the standards are and that's seriously going to cut into world language education in many districts."

Nationwide, about 30 states have standards covering world languages, according to the Council of Chief State School Officers.

But Jennifer Dounay, policy analyst for the Education Commission of the States, said that "almost no states" require a foreign language for high school graduation, although some may require two years for an honors or college preparatory diploma.

Only a handful of states require it for students between kindergarten and eighth grade.

For many years, Pennsylvania schools have been required to offer at least a four-year sequence of a modern language and a two-year sequence of a modern or classical language.

Pamela Kolega, world language education adviser for the state Department of Education, said most school districts provide more than the minimum.

The National Association of State Boards of Education next month plans to release its yearlong study of what it has dubbed the "lost curriculum" -- foreign languages and the arts.

David Griffith, public affairs director of the state boards association, said the study shows foreign languages are "critically important to education."

He calls it "cross-training for the brain" because learning another language helps students with reading, grammar and other skills.

Dounay said that since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, there has been talk about the importance of international education, but "we haven't seen that action on the state level." She said that could be because of economic constraints.

The Pennsylvania Board of Education also has not approved standards for career education and work, but they are under review.

The standards approved are for reading, writing, speaking and listening; mathematics; science and technology; environment and ecology; history; geography; economics; civics and government; health, safety and physical education; arts and humanities; and family and consumer sciences.

The committee plans to discuss its recommendation again today at a state board meeting in Harrisburg. Once the committee has a draft to circulate, public hearings will be conducted.



— Eleanor Chute
Pa. school board softens stance on foreign language standards
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
2003-09-18


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