Re-Imagining the Foreign Language Education Program At
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RE-IMAGINING THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATION PROGRAM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE by Barbara Musik Moltchanov An education leadership portfolio submitted to the Faculty of the University of Delaware in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership Summer 2018 © 2018 Barbara Musik Moltchanov All Rights Reserved RE-IMAGINING THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATION PROGRAM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE by Barbara Musik Moltchanov Approved: __________________________________________________________ Chrystalla Mouza, Ed.D. Director of the School of Education Approved: __________________________________________________________ Carol Vukelich, Ph.D. Dean of the College of Education and Human Development Approved: __________________________________________________________ Douglas J. Doren, Ph.D. Interim Senior Vice Provost for Graduate and Professional Education I certify that I have read this education leadership portfolio and that in my opinion it meets the academic and professional standard required by the University as an education leadership portfolio for the degree of Doctor of Education. Signed: __________________________________________________________ Laurie Palmer, Ed.D. Professor in charge of education leadership portfolio I certify that I have read this education leadership portfolio and that in my opinion it meets the academic and professional standard required by the University as an education leadership portfolio for the degree of Doctor of Education. Signed: __________________________________________________________ Elizabeth Farley-Ripple, Ph.D. Member of education leadership portfolio committee I certify that I have read this education leadership portfolio and that in my opinion it meets the academic and professional standard required by the University as an education leadership portfolio for the degree of Doctor of Education. Signed: __________________________________________________________ Jacquelyn Wilson, Ed.D. Member of education leadership portfolio committee I certify that I have read this education leadership portfolio and that in my opinion it meets the academic and professional standard required by the University as an education leadership portfolio for the degree of Doctor of Education. Signed: __________________________________________________________ Renee Dong, Ph.D. Member of education leadership portfolio committee ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to extend my sincere thanks to my ELP committee for their time and dedication to education. I would especially like to thank my advisor, Dr. Laurie Palmer for being a constant source of support and advice. I owe special thanks to my parents, Olgierd and Krystyna Musik, especially my mother for the endless hours of childcare she provided. Without her help, I would not have had the time to complete the program. I cannot forget to thank all my supportive colleagues in the DLLC, especially CJ, IB, JB and of course JC who gave me the latitude to pursue each avenue I discovered. Of course, CK, my writing partner who kept me motivated to work each and every week. My deepest gratitude is reserved for my family. To Eugene, the most supportive partner anyone could ask for, you were always willing to do whatever was needed while I was busy. Words cannot adequately express my appreciation for your encouragement. It’s your turn next. Finally, to my three (soon to be four) amazing children, I hope I have instilled in you the importance of education, and always striving for more. Max, you kept me laughing no matter how stressed I was, Ally, you proofread several chapters of this paper, and gave me some very poignant advice, and Mitch, I have been in school for your entire life, I am looking forward to the extra time we will now have together. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................... vi LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................. vii ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................ viii Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................... 1 2 PROBLEM ADDRESSED ............................................................................ 8 3 IMPROVEMENT STRATEGIES ............................................................... 16 4 EFFICACY OF IMPROVEMENT STRATEGIES ..................................... 33 5 REFLECTION ON IMPROVEMENT EFFORTS ...................................... 41 6 REFLECTION ON LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT .............................. 46 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................ 48 Appendix A ELP PROPOSAL ......................................................................................... 50 B TEACHER PREPARATION AND SUPPORT: WHAT WORKS ............. 70 C WORLD LANGUAGE EDUCATOR OPEN HOUSE ............................... 90 D THE DEVELOPMENT OF A FACULTY LEARNING COMMUNITY FOR K-12 WORLD LANGUAGE EDUCATORS AND LANGUAGE FACULTY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE ............................. 105 E PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN ............................................ 120 F ANALYSIS OF THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATION PROGRAM ................................................................................................ 134 G STUDENT TEACHER INTERVIEWS .................................................... 161 H WORLD LANGUAGE EDUCATOR FOCUS GROUPS ....................... 175 I CTAL INSTRUCTIONAL IMPORVEMENT GRANT ........................... 185 J ARTC COURSE PROPOSAL ................................................................... 200 K WEBSITE FOR FLED PROGRAM .......................................................... 209 v LIST OF TABLES Table 1 Program Requirements of Five Institutions ........................................ 34 Table 2 Student Teacher Confidence Interviews ............................................. 35 Table 3 Focus Group Interview Themes .......................................................... 38 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 Graduates in Foreign Language Education from 2008-2017 ................ 3 Figure 2 Students Leaving from FLed Major in First Two Semesters of Study from 2000-2015 .................................................................................... 8 Figure 3 Theory of Action ................................................................................. 17 vii ABSTRACT The primary focus of this Educational Leadership Portfolio centers on the recruitment and retention of students to the Foreign Language Education (FLed) major. The severe decline in FLed majors in the last ten years has brought concern to the University of Delaware (UD) and to the State. While this problem is consistent across many institutions, the fact remains that there is an urgent need to address the issue due to the State of Delaware’s wide-spread promotion of foreign language learning. Former governor Jack Markell has been vocal about the importance of young Delawareans learning a foreign language and the State is “committed to providing an aggressive K-12 world language education plan that prepares Delaware students with the language skills they need to compete in an ever-changing global economy at home and around the world.” (https://www.doe.k12.de.us/domain/139). The Governor’s World Language Expansion Initiative was created in 2011in order to prepare Delaware students with the language skills needed to compete in the global economy. Current governor John Carney has continued the campaign for foreign language learning by signing the Delaware Certificate of Multiliteracy bill on July 21, 2017, making Delaware the 26th state in the country to establish an award that honors and recognizes students with high levels of proficiency in languages. Amid the increased emphasis on the importance of foreign language learning, all Delaware school districts report foreign language as a critical area of need. Furthermore, foreign language has been identified as a critical area of need by the viii federal TEACH grant program indicating the national level to which the foreign language teacher shortage has reached. The continued lack of foreign language teachers may soon have an impact on Delaware’s high school graduation requirements. Regulations of the Delaware Department of Education, (http://regulations.delaware.gov/AdminCode/title14/500/505.shtml), outline high school graduation requirements which include earning a minimum of two foreign language credits in the same language, or demonstrating novice-high or higher proficiency level on a nationally recognized assessment of language proficiency. To address the issue of recruitment and retention, I looked to a 2016 report by Dr. John Pelesko, University of Delaware’s Associate Dean for the Natural Sciences and Professor of Mathematical Sciences. This report provides some insight into where the University can effect change when it comes to retaining FLed majors. Therefore, I began by conducting studies on effective teacher preparation programs along with an analysis of our own FLed program. I also conducted interviews with current pre- service teachers in their final semester of study. I organized an open house at UD for all World Language (WL) teachers in the State in an effort to connect with our K-12 counterparts. I developed a collaborative professional development program with current