IDEAS+-+Advocacy

Resources for advocating for native/heritage/world language literacy as a vital element of a person's education
By Jim Cummins || " Children who come to school with a solid foundation in their mother tongue develop stronger literacy abilities in the school language." || * Native || This is a great one to do a jigsaw activity with a group (staff, parents, older students, etc.) because it is naturally broken down into sections based on Cummins' main points. Powerfully written in an accessible style. || Integrate language education strategies into district-wide planning, assessment and funding.
 * ~ Resource ||~ Description or Excerpt ||~ Relevance ||~ Notes ||
 * [|Bilingual Children's Mother Tongue: Why is it important for education?]
 * [|Alliance for the Advancement of Heritage Languages] || "The Alliance is committed to advancing language development for heritage language speakers in the United States as part of a larger effort to educate members of our society who can function professionally in English and in other languages." || * Heritage || Information sharing through publications, newsletter, listserve, etc. ||
 * [|The National Imperative for Language Learning]- article from Jackson, Kolb & Wilson. (2010). EdWeek. || "Consider a class of children entering kindergarten in the United States. While their classes may include students from around the world, global issues and cultures will not be regularly woven into their schoolwork. They will probably study only one language—English—until high school, even though they would learn a second language far more easily if they began in elementary school. Meanwhile, 20 out of 25 industrialized countries start teaching world languages in grades K-5, and 21 countries in the European Union require nine years of language study. International business leaders are warning that American graduates may be technically competent but are increasingly culturally deprived and linguistically illiterate compared with graduates from other countries..." || * World || Current article from established reliable source. Gives very practical reasons for why language learning is important. Maybe good to share with people who are not moved by the cultural benefits so much as the economic. ||
 * [|Benefits of Bilingualism]radio segment from NPR || Health report - Bilingualism boosts brain power! || * Bilingualism || One more "pro" point to add to your repertoire - takes a health angle on why bilingualism is important. ||
 * [|Bilingual Education and World Language Commission] || The BEWL Commission included 20 educators, language scholars, public officials and parent leaders. They recommended that CPS: *
 * Develop rigorous, sequential pre-K through grade 12 programming.
 * Recruit, develop and support new and existing educators to achieve this new direction.
 * Boost enrichment, support and extended learning for bilingual and world language students.
 * Adopt rigorous measures to track language development and overall academic progress. || * bilingualism
 * native lang
 * world lang
 * heritage
 * academic lang
 * language arts || full report can be downloaded

exec summary available in Spanish, Polish, Arabic, and Chinese ||