Glastonbury Public Schools World Language
Federal Grants and Other Funding
The Glastonbury World Language Program has a long history of using federal funding to develop and expand its language offerings and curricula. In the 1950s, the district was one of the first to receive money from the U.S. government to create a course of study in Russian. Today, our historic Russian program continues to prepare students for careers in the world service, the media, governmental and non-governmental agencies, and academia. Our long sequence of Spanish language study, beginning in the first grade, was developed in part with funds from the federal government. Title VI funds our new Assessment Initiative, which allows Glastonbury teachers to create and implement integrated testing instruments that will serve as models for standardized world language assessments nationwide.
The Foreign Language Assistance Program (FLAP)
FLAP grants fund "innovative model programs providing for the establishment, improvement, or expansion of world language study for elementary and secondary school students" (Section B, page 8, Grant Application for the FLAP-LEA, U.S. Department of Education). A FLAP grant awarded in the early 2000s allowed teachers to develop culturally-based curricular units and materials for all languages offered at all levels, including elementary, and to attend intensive summer professional development programs in world language. They have also provided the means for updating language labs and other computer-assisted instructional tools.
For more information, please visit the FLAP page of the Department of Education website.
The Glastonbury Assessment Initiative
Federal moneys from Title VI of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act permit Glastonbury world language teachers to develop new, and refine existing, standards-based assessments in French, Latin, Mandarin, Russian, and Spanish. Assessment resource teachers at the elementary, middle, and high schools have created standard-based midterm and final exams in all languages offered, which were piloted in Glastonbury schools in the 2005-2006 school year. In addition, the grant allows teachers and UCONN graduate interns to digitally archive samples of student work, undergo training for evaluating assessments, and receive technical assistance. This grant will also provide funding for researchers from the University of Connecticut to examine the impact of studying at least one world language on scores on the Connecticut Mastery Test in English and Math.