A Proposed Model for Chinese Heritage Schools

A Proposed Model forChinese Heritage Schools

1st International ConferenceOn Heritage/Community Languages

February 20th, 2010By

Hseuh-Ming Tommy Lu, Ed. D

This presentation

is also posted

on our wiki site at:http://chineseschoolde.wikispaces.com

Introduction to heritage schools

National organizations– National Council of Associations of Chinese

Language Schools (NCACLS) – established April 16th, 1994 http://www.ncacls.org

– The Chinese School Association in the United States (CSAUS) – established May 10th, 1994 http://www.csaus.org/csaus02/

1st International Conference on Heritage/Community Languages

Introduction to heritage schools NCACLS

– 15 regional associations• Association of Chinese Schools (New England to Virginia)• Houston Chinese Schools Association• Association of Chinese Schools in Southeastern United States (Georgia and

Alabama)• Association of Northern California Chinese Schools• Colorado Association of Chinese Language Schools• Dallas Fort Worth Chinese School Association• Midwest Chinese Language Schools Association (Illinois, Ohio, Minnesota,

Wisconsin, Indiana)• Michigan Chinese Teachers Association• Northwestern Association of Chinese Language Schools (Washington,

Oregon, Idaho, Alaska, Wyoming, Montana)• Southern California Council of Chinese Schools• AMCSA (Kansas) • Hawaii Chinese School Association• Florida Chinese School Association• Washington Metropolitan Area Chinese School Association• Association of New Jersey Chinese Schools

– 6 officers


Introduction to heritage schoolsNCACLS

– 2003 data (Lu, ICICE2003)

• 592 schools

• 8,353 teachers

• 106,855 students

– 2009 data (NCACLS, 2009)

• 401 schools

• 5,354 teachers

• 428 certified teachers

• 70,559 students



CSAUS– 1996 data (CSAUS, 2003)

• 30 states, 70 schools

– 2003 data (CSAUS, 2003)

• 39 states, 207 schools

– 2009 data (CSAUS, 2009)

• 43 states, 410 schools, 100,000 students



Association of Chinese Schools http://www.acsusa.org– 6 regions

• R1 – New England

• R2 – New York state

• R3 – New Jersey

• R4 – Pennsylvania, South Jersey, and Delaware

• R5 – Greater Washington, DC area

• R6 – New York city and Long Island

– 57 schools, 1,100 teachers, 100 certified teachers, 12,500 students (ACS, 2009)



Chinese School of Delaware http://www.ChineseSchoolDE.org– Established 1971– 16 teachers (5 certified), 8 culture teachers, 121

students, Pre-K to 10th grade, advanced, and Level I classes (CSD, 2010)

– Two tracks• Heritage track 49.6%• Non-heritage track 50.4% (first time)

– Member of Heritage Alliance of CAL



Why two tracks?– Identity issues, Learning pace, Parents’ expectations

• Track A (heritage students)

• Track B (non-heritage students)– Adopted families

– Third generations

– Chinese enthusiastics (non-Chinese related families)


Strengths of heritage schools

Community based (receive local support and support local communities)– Chinese New Year program– Reading program in libraries

Low overhead Length (from Pre-K to 10th or 12th grade) Identity (a place to be for heritage and adopted

learners) Resources for school districts (culture and teacher)


Strengths of heritage schools Culture activities

– Chinese calligraphy– Chinese brush painting– Chinese chess– Abacus– Chinese musical instruments– Chinese history– Crafts/origami– Folk dance/songs– Chinese festivals– Chinese cooking– Mahjong– Table tennis



Contests– Speech– Chinese calligraphy– Chinese Yo-Yo– Chinese culture jeopardy– Chinese essay– Kite flying– Poster



Professional developments– Annual conferences (over 1,000 participants)– Workshops– Seminars– College Board sponsored events– Credit courses– Certification programs– Startalk programs


Challenges of heritage schools Lack of hours per week (2 to 3 hours per week in

one afternoon) Lack of learning activities between weekends

(discrete learning) Lack of highly qualified teachers (volunteer

based) Lack of continuous and aligned curriculum Lack of assessment standards Lack of facilities Lack of career advancements


Challenges of heritage schools

High turn over rate for both administrators and teachers

Unstable fundingSignificant gaps among different schools

(web sites, technologies, material developments, student learning outcome assessments, etc.)

Not recognized by most school districts and states



Shrinking enrollment of traditional students (heritage students)

Increasing demand from non-heritage families

Non-heritage students’ needs are underdeveloped



4GL Theory

Heritage language proficiency ends in the 4th generation.


Proposed model

Increase learning activities between weekends– Online learning community

• Blog

• Wiki (http://chineseschoolde.wikispaces.com)

• Online courses

• Twitter (short but frequent exercises)

– CD ROM based learning


Proposed modelChinese language proficiency levels breakdown by grades

Heritage students Non-Heritage students

Pre-K Novice High Novice Low-1

K Intermediate Low-1 Novice Low-2

1st grade Intermediate Low-2 Novice Mid

2nd grade Intermediate Low-3 Novice High

3rd grade Intermediate Mid-1 Intermediate Low-1

4th grade Intermediate Mid-2 Intermediate Low-2

5th grade Intermediate Mid-3 Intermediate Low-3

6th grade Intermediate High-1 Intermediate Mid-1



9th grade Advanced Low-1 Intermediate High-1

10th grade Advanced Low-2 Intermediate High-2


Proposed modelChinese proficiency requirements for novice level

Level Characters Ability Cultures Idioms

Novice Low-1 0 Count Chinese New Year 0

Greetings

Novice Low-2 10 Family Family Members 0

Calendar ( 稱謂 )

Novice Mid 30 Colors Chinese Food and 0

Shapes Table Settings

Novice High 40 Seasons Chinese Origami 0


Proposed modelChinese proficiency requirements for intermediate and advanced levels

Level Characters Ability Cultures Idioms

Intermediate Low-1 100 Directions Chinese Craft 5

Intermediate Low-2 200 Feelings Chinese History 10

Hobbies

Intermediate Low-3 300 Unit of measurement Mid-Autumn Festival 20

Intermediate Mid-1 400 Environment Dragon Boat Festival 30

Chinese Yo-Yo

Chinese Kong-Fu

Intermediate Mid-2 500 Cultural differences Chinese Calligraphy 40

Intermediate Mid-3 600 Translations Chinese Chess 50

Ma Jiang

Intermediate High-1 700 Problem Solving Chinese Valentine’s Day 60

( 七夕 )

Intermediate High-2 900 Express Opinions Chinese Elders’ Day 70

( 九九重陽節 )

Intermediate High-3 1100 Convey Thoughts Chinese Lunar Calendar 80

Advanced Low-1 1300 Lead Discussions or Debates Teacher’s Day (Confucius Day) 90

Advanced Low-2 1500 Gain New Knowledge Chinese Architecture ( 中國的建築 ) 100


Proposed model

Traditional vs. simplified characters– Issues and myth

• Simplification of strokes is not an issue

• Mix characters with same or similar pronounciation is an issue

– Our approach• Be able to recognize both

• Choose one in writing or typing

• Mix not allowed


Proposed model

For non-heritage students– Emphasis on culture more than language

For heritage students– Emphasis on both language and culture

For Pre-K and K students on both tracks– Use chants (兒歌 )


Current Progress

Successful wikiRich collection of teaching and learning

materialsEasier for new teachersRecruit two Chinese school graduates to

come back to serve as teachersRecruit five Chinese school graduates to

come back to serve as TAs


Current Progress

Unsuccessful bloggingMix results for web learningMix results for twittering


Moving to the next step

Enhance wiki site Incorporate CD based learning – IQ

Chinese Increase web based learning – 3rd grade and

upUsing NCACLS’ SAT Chinese Practice

Test for benchmarking


Q & A

E-mail: [email protected]

Documents

A Proposed Model for Chinese Heritage Schools