A Proposed Model for Chinese Heritage Schools

1. A Proposed Model forChinese Heritage Schools 1st International Conference On Heritage/Community Languages February 20th, 2010 By Hseuh-Ming Tommy Lu, Ed. D

2. This presentation is also posted on our wiki site at: http://chineseschoolde.wikispaces.com

3. 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

4. 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 1st International Conference on Heritage/Community Languages

5. Introduction to heritage schools • NCACLS • 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 1st International Conference on Heritage/Community Languages

6. Introduction to heritage schools • 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 1st International Conference on Heritage/Community Languages

7. Introduction to heritage schools • 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) 1st International Conference on Heritage/Community Languages

8. Introduction to heritage schools • 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 – one of the few (Lawton, 2008) • Heritage track 49.6% • Non-heritage track 50.4% (first time) • Member of Heritage Alliance of CAL 1st International Conference on Heritage/Community Languages

9. Introduction to heritage schools • 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) 1st International Conference on Heritage/Community Languages

10. 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) 1st International Conference on Heritage/Community Languages

11. 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 1st International Conference on Heritage/Community Languages

12. Strengths of heritage schools • Contests • Speech • Chinese calligraphy • Chinese Yo-Yo • Chinese culture jeopardy • Chinese essay • Kite flying • Poster 1st International Conference on Heritage/Community Languages

13. Strengths of heritage schools • Professional developments • Annual conferences (over 1,000 participants) • Workshops • Seminars • College Board sponsored events • Credit courses • Certification programs • Startalk programs 1st International Conference on Heritage/Community Languages

14. Hidden Treasure • NCLC 2008 1st International Conference on Heritage/Community Languages

15. 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 1st International Conference on Heritage/Community Languages

16. Challenges of heritage schools • High turn over rate for both administrators and teachers • Unstable funding • Significant gaps among different schools (web sites, technologies, material developments, student learning outcome assessments, etc.) • Not recognized by most school districts and states 1st International Conference on Heritage/Community Languages

17. Challenges of heritage schools • Shrinking enrollment of traditional students (heritage students) • Increasing demand from non-heritage families • Non-heritage students’ needs are underdeveloped 1st International Conference on Heritage/Community Languages

18. Challenges of heritage schools • 4GL Theory Heritage language proficiency ends in the 4th generation. 1st International Conference on Heritage/Community Languages

19. 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 1st International Conference on Heritage/Community Languages

20. Proposed model 1st International Conference on Heritage/Community Languages

21. Proposed model 1st International Conference on Heritage/Community Languages

22. Proposed model 1st International Conference on Heritage/Community Languages

23. 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 1st International Conference on Heritage/Community Languages

24. 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) 1st International Conference on Heritage/Community Languages

25. Current Progress • Successful wiki • Rich collection of teaching and learning materials • Easier for new teachers • Recruit two Chinese school graduates to come back to serve as teachers • Recruit five Chinese school graduates to come back to serve as TAs 1st International Conference on Heritage/Community Languages

26. Current Progress • Unsuccessful blogging • Mix results for web learning • Mix results for twittering 1st International Conference on Heritage/Community Languages

27. Moving to the next step • Enhance wiki site • Incorporate CD based learning – IQ Chinese • Increase web based learning – 3rd grade and up • Using NCACLS’ SAT Chinese Practice Test for benchmarking 1st International Conference on Heritage/Community Languages

28. Q & A • E-mail: tommyLu1999@gmail.com