STANDARD COURSE OF STUDY

PREFACE

Intent

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 2001, which was signed into federal law in January 2002, defines Foreign Languages as one of the core subject areas, along with English, Reading/Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Civics and Government, Economics, Arts, History, and Geography.

The North Carolina Second Language Standard Course of Study establishes competency goals and objectives directing the teaching and learning of foreign language, heritage language, and classical language in North Carolina. This document sets high expectations for all students, it supports extended sequence of language learning and it takes into account the national standards for foreign language learning. In addition, the Second Language Standard Course of Study gives administrators a rationale and guidelines for the study and the planning of an articulated language program.

Because it describes the overarching concepts governing language education in the state, it should be used as a guide by school districts as they make decisions concerning their second language programs. The overview presented in the document will need to be expanded in local curriculum documents to reflect the beliefs, policies, and philosophy of the local school districts in ways that best meet the needs of their specific student population.

The Revised Second Language Standard Course of Study replaces the document published in 1999. It is comprised of three Second Language curriculum sections: Modern Foreign Languages, Spanish for Native Speakers and Latin. It is accompanied by a Teacher Document, which provides support, application, explanation, and expansion of the goals and objectives presented in the Standard Course of Study. The companion document can be obtained by contacting the Publications Sales Division of the NC Department of Public Instruction. Both documents can also be accessed via the NCDPI web site located at: www.ncpublicschools.org or via the Second Language website located at: www.learnnc.org/dpi/instserv.nsf/Category9.

Second Languages and English as a Second Language

This document is specifically designed to guide instruction for the teaching of foreign languages, such as French, German, Spanish, as well as the less commonly taught languages, along with heritage languages (Spanish for Native Speakers) and Latin. A separate Standard Course of Study for English Language Development mandates English proficiency standards which are different from the standards for languages other than English.

National Standards

In 1989, state and national leaders met to reach agreement on setting national educational goals for the American public schools. Shortly thereafter Congress voted on “Goals 2000: Educate America Act” which endorsed the original goals and expanded goal 3 to incorporate foreign languages in the core curriculum. Subsequently, the National Council on Education Standards recommended the development of national standards for the disciplines included in the goals.

Foreign Language Standards

In 1993, foreign language education became the seventh and final subject area to receive federal funding to develop national standards for students, kindergarten through twelfth grade. The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) organized a task force to meet this challenge. Finally, in 1996, after seeking and receiving extensive input from the foreign language community the Standards for Foreign Language Learning: Preparing for the 21st Century were published.

Standards for Classical Language Learning was published in 1997 by the American Classical League in collaboration with the American Philological Association and is aligned with and is a companion document to the Standards for Foreign Language Learning.

Revision Process

In response to a mandate from the North Carolina General Assembly instructing the Department of Public Instruction to revise the individual Standard Courses of Study on a five-year basis, a committee was selected to review the 1999 document and decide whether to revise or clarify the document. The committee, comprised of K-12 teachers, university professors, central office representatives, parents, community leaders, and DPI staff revisited the national standards and state initiatives and decided to make no major changes, other than the inclusion of AP foreign language course descriptions. In addition, it was decided to include the Latin curriculum rewritten to reflect the Standard Course of Study format and the newly developed Spanish for Native Speakers curriculum in the Second Language Standard Course of Study.

Input

The committee solicited input through a variety of focus groups, regional meetings, questionnaires, and individual conversations. In addition, a draft of this document was posted on the Second Languages web page and foreign language teachers, university language faculty, teacher-trainers, as well as other interested parties in the state were invited to review the document and participate in an online survey. The final draft of the document was revised to incorporate suggested changes.

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