1. Shifting to Proficiency
Principals leadership Academy, June 2016

2. Why Proficiency?
Research clearly shows that an essential factor in global competitiveness is fluency in a second (or for some students, third) language.
Recognizing the importance of proficiency, BCPS has established the goal of graduating students proficient in a second language.
BAS

3. What is Proficiency?
Proficiency is what students can do with the language as opposed to what students know about the language.
Proficiency is described by range of performance.
BAS: Before there was ever a Passport school, Office of World Languages began plotting out the 9 year pathway to proficiency for students (that includes new courses and a shift in instructional model)

4. How does proficiency develop?
Building proficiency is not always linear.
Students move both forward and backward as they develop their language skills.
Students may be at different levels of proficiency in each skill area: listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
BAS

5. What do current best practices say teachers must provide?
Multiple opportunities for students to…
use the target language in authentic tasks to solve real world problems
engage in interpretive and interpersonal communication
interact with vocabulary and grammar in context using authentic resources
BAS
engage in presentational communication
Personalize what they are learning

6. How is teaching for proficiency different from traditional methods?
Direct & grammar-driven instruction  Authentic tasks and real world communication
Choral repetition, scripted activities are the  Multiple opportunities for interpersonal
bulk of student talk communication
New vocabulary presented in word lists,  Vocabulary and grammar presented in
new grammar presented in isolation context using authentic resources
BAS
Paper and pencil summative assessments  Assessed through interpretive, interpersonal and presentational tasks
Teachers focused on what students  Students focused on what they can do
know about the target language with the target language

7. 2014-2015  Integrated Performance Assessments (IPA)
Our progress:
 Integrated Performance Assessments (IPA)
with Can Do statements
Authentic Resources with Tiered Activities
2016 – Personalization and Customization
BAS: This transformation already started with the IPAs released in in all languages.

8. What does it look like to use authentic resources in a
learner-centered classroom?
JO / KS
Handouts- infographic, activities, description of tiered activities

9. Look-Fors in All World Languages Classrooms (Yes, even level 1!)
Students using the language they own in real-world situations
Students speaking to each other in the target language in non-scripted tasks
Students interacting with authentic resources in a variety of tasks
Students asking questions and initiating communication in the target language
Teachers monitoring student progress via ongoing formative assessment that drives instruction
BAS

10. What You Should Not See in ANY World Languages Classroom:
Teachers lecturing for long periods of time (even in the target language)
Students using choral repetition as their primary speaking practice
Students working out of a textbook, on an isolated grammar activity, or a worksheet asking low-level recall questions
Students completing verb charts or grammar exercises as instructional activities
Teachers posting verb charts or grammar rules on the wall, boards, overhead, etc.
Objectives containing grammatical terms or references
JO / KS

11. Professional Development Topics/Sessions
Integrated Performance Assessments
Using Authentic Resources in the World Languages Classroom
Tiered Activities with Authentic Resources
Using Tiered Activities to Personalize and Customize Learning
Unlocking Proficiency Levels
Comprehensible Input and Output
Lesson Planning for Proficiency
Good Teaching is Good Teaching
Novice is Not Enough
Instructional Shifts
Why Now?

12. Support For Chairs and Teachers:
Summer Academies
New Teacher Orientation/New Teacher PD Sessions
Professional Study Day in August
Department Chair Meetings
Informal Observations With Feedback
Conference Opportunities Partially Funded by OWL
Professional Development Modules Still Available in BCPS One
OWL Presents
Target Sessions for Passport Schools
Collaborative Sessions Based On Teacher Requests

13. Contact Information
Brian Schiffer, Director of Fine Arts, Social Studies, World Languages and ESOL
Judy Opfer, Coordinator of World Languages
Kimberley Shinozaki, Supervisor, Office of World Languages
Jacquie Cioffi, Resource Teacher, Office of World Languages
Mara Ma, Resource Teacher, Office of World Languages
Debbie Wilson Matusky, Resource Teacher, Office of World Languages
JO / KS

14. Questions?