District Administration - April 2007 - (Page 40)

COVER: CURRICULUM PIGS TEACH CONNECTIONS Using a pig ﬁgurina, a second-grade teacher instructs her class on the construction of Chinese characters. In ancient times, Chinese houses were built on stilts and livestock often lived under the house, hence the pig. will soon be their own new programs. And teacher and student exchange programs are on the rise. Much of the recent growth in Chinese language instruction in American schools can be traced to an initiative begun in 1982 by the Geraldine R. Let’s Talk Business Dodge Foundation, which is designed Chinese is the native tongue of the to make society more humane. world’s most populous nation, spoken Under former executive director by an estimated 1.5 billion people Scott McVay, a Princeton University worldwide. Most American schools graduate, the Dodge Foundation set teach the Mandarin dialect, the ofﬁout to provide seed money “The push for Chinese, whether you’re in Massachusetts, for high schools that wanted to start Mandarin Illinois or California, came inevitably from the parents, who language courses. McVay sought prohad the same vision as we did, that China is one-fourth of posals from hundreds the world, and we need to learn the language.” of high-achieving high —Scott McVay, former executive director, Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation schools. Over the next decade, Dodge awarded $2.7 million in grants to students start and the longer they 60 schools. “The push for Chinese, cial language of China. stick with it, the more proﬁcient they whether you’re in Massachusetts, According to the International become. Yu-Lan Lin, the director of Illinois or California, came inevitably Monetary Fund, from 1980 to 2006 world languages for Boston Public from the parents, who had the same China’s gross domestic product grew Schools, says students who study vision as we did, that China is oneat an annual average increase of Chinese through college, particularly fourth of the world, and we need to nearly 10 percent. Comparably, the those in exchange and immersion learn the language,” McVay recalls. GDP in India, another economic conprograms in China, can reach ﬂuency. But the foundation’s work did not tender, grew by nearly 6 percent. “We’re encouraging students not only stop with the doling out of grants. China’s economic power is driving to study the language but to experiMcVay insisted that Dodge follow up American leaders—in government, ence the language ﬁrsthand,” Lin says. with the schools and provide teachers business and education—to plead for 40 April 2007 District Administration more Chinese to be taught to a nation of foreign language challenged youth. With China increasingly ﬂexing its economic might, more Americans view with urgency the need to teach young people the language. Learning the language is about preparing to conduct a dialogue with the nation’s future business partners. As with any language, the earlier A Foundation to Build On

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - April 2007

Editor's Letter
Update
Inside the Law
Curriculum Update
District Profile
Administrator Profile
“See You in Court!"
Lost in Translation
Bonding Agents
Certifying AP Courses
Hunting for Talent - Part 2
Buying Power
The Musty Bookshelf
New Products
Leadership
Speaking Out
The Online Edge
Problem/Solution
Calendar of Events
Overheard On The Pulse

District Administration - April 2007