The Washington State Coalition for International Education has been
following several education bills this session that may impact World
Languages. I gave testimony on HB 2706 in Olympia on January 26. If you
are interested in becoming more involved in this specific issue, please
contact me michele@anciauxinternational.com for specific action
items.
-- Michele Anciaux Aoki, Ph.D., Washington State Coalition for
International Education
House Bill 2706 - Rigorous Curriculum in High Schools
updated 1/25/2006
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=2706
Sponsors: Representatives Hunter, Sommers, Tom, Anderson, Talcott,
Quall, McIntire, Dunn, Green, Kenney, Lantz
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that, although students
are being expected to meet higher academic standards as defined by the
essential academic learning requirements, there is still a gap between
what is required for high school graduation and the knowledge and skills
students need to be successful in college or work. This gap has been
confirmed by independent analysis by such organizations as Achieve. To
assure that a high school diploma reflects adequate preparation for the
intellectual demands of adult life, the legislature intends to create
the expectation that all students enroll in a recommended high school
program that includes a rigorous curriculum of study in English,
mathematics, science, social studies, and an academic or career and
technical concentration.
Several members of the Coalition have provided
testimony on this
bill and the importance of including World Languages. In general, they are supportive of the greater rigor of these
"recommended" high school graduation requirements. The concern is that
the bill, in its current draft, does not mention any requirement for
world languages although there is a university admissions requirement of
two years of a world language. This seems to be an oversight. We are
hopeful that the House Education Committee will agree to add a line
specifying:
(g) At least two credits (or equivalent proficiency) in a language
other than English
House Bill 1970 - Revisit in 2006
The Coalition is looking into the possibility of renewed interest in
supporting this bill from 2003:
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=1970&year=2003.
Sponsors: Representatives Schual-Berke, Cox, Talcott, Anderson, Veloria,
Skinner, McDermott, Sullivan, Kagi, Quall, Haigh
The legislature intends to increase the attention of the K-12
system on the importance of world language instruction by reestablishing
the position of world language specialist at the office of the
superintendent of public instruction.
Get Involved
To build strong grassroots advocacy for internationalizing education
K-12 (K-20 even!), please invite your friends and colleagues to sign on to
the
advocacy@internationaledwa.org listserv. To subscribe to the listserv,
they can complete the Get Involved Form:
http://internationaledwa.org/forms/get_involved.htm.
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