1. State of the State: Foreign Language Education Programs Christopher Newport University Michelle H. Grau

2. MAT program at CNU Christopher Newport's MAT program just finished the state re-accreditation process this past spring and received the highest rating, although of course there are still areas of focus for improvement. We are not a big enough program yet to undergo the NCATE; our program is steadily growing, with our largest class of future educators last year (approx. 85 students). We do not have a separate program for foreign language education. Students must complete an undergraduate degree in FL and then continue their postgraduate studies during their senior year, the summer between their senior year and professional year, and a fifth "professional" year. They then leave with an MAT in their particular language. I was skeptical of the program at first (compared to my own teacher preparation program), but after careful study realized that the students are getting all necessary teacher preparation courses before their student teaching field experience.

3. Foreign Language Pedagogy There are 2 main FL pedagogy courses in the program. The heart of methodology comes through MLAN 338, which I teach. This is the students' primary introduction to and practice in FL methodology. The second, SPAN (FREN/GER) 538, is an apprenticeship course and depending on the instructor (myself or others), the students continue research into FL pedagogical topics as well as, essentially, TA in a lower level language course on campus.

4. Technology Technology is addressed in various courses throughout the program, from basic computing to graduate level teaching courses, as well as in the MLAN 338. I wish we had a separate course in technology-enhanced language learning but we don't. During their practicum in Newport News Public Schools, student teachers take a computer course specifically geared for teachers and complete a Teacher Work Sample (moved from electronic portfolio to Teacher Work Sample, which requires data collection and analysis).

5. FL Education Concerns Our biggest concern right now is trying to get a "pre-student teaching" practica in place so that the secondary teaching candidates have more exposure to the public school classroom before their final semester (they log about 100 hours of observation, but unlike elementary candidates, they do not spend time actively involved in the classroom, teaching mini- lessons, collaborating with a teacher, etc.). Our hope is to redesign the methodology course taken the fall before student teaching so that 1 or 2 of the 3 credit hours is a “lab” experience.

6. FL Education Concerns Another concern is finding good cooperating teachers. Currently, Newport News provides us with the names of teachers who volunteer to have student teachers... this does not always mean that they are good role models, some are, others are not. Because the FL student teachers must have 2 placements, we scramble to find well-qualified teachers at the middle schools and high schools (and elementary). This year, because of budget cuts, the elementary FL teachers, most of them part-time, were let go unless they were willing to become full time and travel amongst schools. We have never had more than 4 FL student teachers at a time to place and still we have difficulty! (8 placements) Also, since most of our student teachers complete 2 weeks of their practicum in the fall at the beginning of the public school year (to experience the first weeks of school), their 2 five- week spring placements are very rushed, the first one being especially challenging. FL in our area is still in great demand but not "on solid ground," as many schools are still scrambling to fill vacancies into the school year and often hire from teacher exchange programs abroad.