PSMLA Executive Council Meeting Agenda

March 20-21, 2004

Penn State , PA

Welcome/Introduction of Members (Rzodkiewicz)

The following members were in attendance on Saturday: K. Boykin, V. Burke, R. Cartier, E. Donato, C. Dohmen, T. Fall, R. Hall, E. Irish, P. Kolega(PDE), F., Mulhern, D. Prejsnar (PaCIE), D. Rao, V. Remillard, P. Rzodkiewicz, N. Sterniak,J. Stewart, K. Williams,T. White, D. Wills, B. Youngs

•  Approval of Minutes from September (Burke)

Minutes were previously approved by Council via Email.

•  Treasurer's Report (Wills)

Minutes were approved by Council on a P. Rzodkiewicz motion and a second by F. Mulhern.

•  Business Manager's Report (Boykin)

K. Boykin applied to the IRS to be considered as an Independent Contractor and was granted this, This will simplify record keeping.

The Business Manager's report was accepted by Council.

•  Advertising Manager's Report (Hall)

Letters have been sent to vendors and publishers for the 2004 Conference. The Ad Manager's report was accepted by Council.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

A. 2003 Fall Conference Report (Mulhern)

12 sessions were sponsored by PSMLA during the ACTFL/PSMLA joint conference in Philadelphia , including a Post Conference Workshop presented by Thekla Fall and colleagues. A PSMLA booth in the exhibits area was coordinated by Kathleen Boykin and a program highlighting PSMLA events was prepared by John Pearce and sent to all PSMLA members. Other events included Wednesday evening dinners at local restaurants, an Awards reception and an ethnic tour of Philadelphia.

B. 2004 Fall Conference Report (C.Schneider)

D. Wills reported on progress of the 2004

Conference for C. Schneider, Conference Chair.

Discussion was had about whom to invite for a PDE Panel. T. Fall will contact possible panel members. The Advocacy Committee will brainstorm the structure of the panel and draw up a list of potential invitees perhaps Curriculum Coordinators from the I.U s. National Board of State Boards of Education (Pa Board is not following their guidelines.)

C. 2005 Fall Conference Report (Burke)

The 2005 Conference will be held in Lancaster , Pa. at the Lancaster Host Resort and Conference Center on Friday, October 28 and Saturday, October 29, 2005 .

•  Nominations Committee – Election Results (Dohmen)

There was a good response to the ballots sent out for Executive Council.

The following were elected to Executive Council:

Maryanne Boettjer Germantown Academy

Karen Williams Mercyhurst College

Tomasina White School District of Philadelphia

Frank Mulhern will act as temporary Parliamentarian.

E . New Rosters (*Handout) (Rzodkiewicz)

New rosters were distributed with current information.

F. New Committee Assignments (*Handout) (Rzodkiewicz)

G. Membership Committee ( Rao and Irish)

PSMLA presently has 514 members.

E-Flashes have been sent to members . The committee is hoping that members will begin to contribute ideas for the E-Flash alo.. Ideas were discussed about encouraging new members. Members are always encouraged to recommend teachers for membership. Members are reminded that a $25 gift certificate or a free membership is offered to anyone who brings in 3 new members. Institutional membership options were also discussed.

Perhaps a letter to principals explaining this membership will be developed.

•  Professional Development Committee

The focus this year centered on the workshops presented by PSMLA at the ACTFL Conference. Other professional development efforts included letters of support which led to the PDE adoption of the ACTFL OPI and written exam for teacher candidates as an alternative to replace the Praxis II.

•  Awards Committee

P. Rzodkiewicz moved and E. Irish seconded the nomination of Marilyn Zilli and Slippery Rock University for the Merit Award. Council voted to accept these nominations.

P. Rzodkiewicz moved and D. Wills seconded the nomination of Deanna Baird ,K-12, and Dr. Bonnie Adair-Hauck for Educator of the Year Awards.. Council voted to accept these nominations.

J. Advocacy/Public Relations (Cartier and Sterniak)

There will be 3 new candidates for State Board of Education. Letters of support were sent by PSMLA members. Committee members met with D. Dumyer, and Marilyn Zilli , liaison for State Senator Allyson Schwartz. An advocacy letter was sent to State Superintendents from President Rzodkiewicz. Much discussion was generated about strategies to use to put forward the cause of advocacy of World Languages. It was suggested that PSMLA contact University Alumni Associations since these are parents who have taken language in college. There will be meetings of the State Board in May and July. Check the list serve for meeting times and places. Members interested in testifying can check sample letters on PSMLA website. Occasionally an E Update will be sent to members with important information on Advocacy. T. Fall will coordinate this. Letters of support written by students will be sent to the Governor.

K. Finance Committee (Rzodkiewicz)

A suggestion was made that we look for a Public Relations person for PSMLA ,perhaps a retired person who has access to the media and school districts in order to coordinate activities for PSMLA. A job description will be developed by the Finance Committee.

Kathleen Boykin has been approved as an Independent Contractor.

L . Assessment Guide Committee (Fall)

There are guides for sale.

M. Cultural Communications Alliance (Wills)

The Bayer Foundation is still active. The Heinz Corp. is now involved also. Scholarships are now being given to the winning teams. Spanish and Business teachers are collaborating this year.

N. International Education Committee (Remillard and Prejsnar)

International Baccalaureat Programs could be highlighted at the PaCIE Conference in Sept 04. Programs highlighting internships which allow

High school students to take courses on college campuses or technical schools could also be of interest.

PSMLA has been asked to present a session at PaCIE, perhaps on International Baccalaureate Programs for next year. T. White will coordinate this. A panel will be formed with presenters from the Philadelphia and the Pittsburgh area.

Development of an on-line brochure was discussed.

PSMLA and PaCIE will discuss a partnership for members. An institutional membership in PaCIE was also discussed whereby PSMLA would be a member of the PaCIE Board with voting privileges.

O. Technology Committee (Browne)

Recent workshops include February 4 in Pittsburgh and May 15 at Swarthmore College near Philadelphia . On September 18 a workshop on using web resources in the WL classroom will be at Mercyhurst in Erie . PSMLA has recruited members of CALICO to join the Southeast Pa. Tech team.

P. Publications Committee (Youngs)

Members are encouraged to submit articles for the Forum and also to submit their students' drawings and illustrations for the cover of the Forum. Successful lessons, student writings, activities for Foreign Language Week, can also be submitted. See Forum for guidelines for receiving Act 48 credit for articles. A column has been proposed in which a retired teacher would answer World Language teachers' questions. The Spring issue of the Forum will be out to members shortly. The deadline for articles for the Fall issue is August 15. Prices of ads in Forum will be raised.

Q. Standards Committee (Rzodkiewicz)

See PDE report.

REPORTS OF SPECIAL PROJECTS

•  ACT 48 Update (Youngs)

To date, approximately 50 names have been input into the system for this year. B. Youngs has requested that CALICO be put on our list of approved providers for their June 2004 conference.

B. ACTFL Report(Youngs)

The ACTFL Delegate Report will be available in the Spring Forum.

C. JNCL – (Sterniak)

N. Sterniak presented a comparison of how foreign countries are promoting learning of foreign languages vs the U. S.

The Council for Basic Education recently released a study on how the No Child Left Behind Act is influencing instruction time and professional development in key subject areas. The study , Academic Atrophy: The Condition of the Liberal Arts in America 's Public Schools, found that schools are spending more time on reading, math and science and squeezing out social studies, civics, geography., languages and the arts. The Council suggests 4 steps that educators and policy makers should take to ensure that a liberal arts education has a permanent role in education curriculum:

1. Integrate the liberal arts into strategies for improving math and reading skills.

2. Better prepare teachers to integrate the liberal arts into math and reading instruction.

3. Incorporate standards and accountability systems into all liberal arts courses.

4. Maintain high goals for excellence in the liberal arts, and track progress towards these goals.

For more information visit the Council's website at http://www.c-b-e.org/

D . NECTFL Report (Irish)

1 MEAD Fellowship was submitted . Applications were due in December. E. Irish will attend the April 15 Meeting of the States. 2 EXCO members will be doing workshops.

E. PDE Update (Kolega)

The State Board moved World Languages to the part of the Standards draft in the Non Academic section. This means that World Languages would not be for all students. June 20 was the first time changing the language in the draft to move World Languages to the non - Core Course section. We are still in the Chapter 4 Regulations.

The Governor's Institute will be at Villanova this year.

NEW BUSINESS

•  Technology in the East (Browne)

See above Technology Committee report.

•  Teacher Certification (OPI/PRAXIS) (Mulhern)

Should PSMLA take a position on this change to ACTFL Proficiency Tests in lieu of the Praxis tests? This generated great discussion on an Intermediate High recommendation for a new teacher!

Up until now, student teachers only took the Praxis test, which gave us no indication of proficiency levels. With the OPI, school districts have a measure of a candidate's abilities. However, endorsement of Intermediate High minimum proficiency is lower than we ask of our high school students.

If we ask Advanced Low of candidates, who will there be to hire.?

Moving from Intermediate High to Advanced Low is a HUGE step ,often an un doable task with married college students who cannot study abroad. This will be an ongoing discussion .

T. Fall suggested that we send a letter to Mr. Meehen congratulating him on this change but recommending that we move to Advanced Low Recommendation.

Pam Kolega will be putting together a list of peer reviewers who go out on Reviews. The fact that some methods courses aren't even taught by World Language professors is of concern.

•  2005 – Year of Languages (Mulhern)

The April 15 Meeting of the States at NECTFL will discuss what the various states will be doing for the year of Languages. Ideas will be highlighted at the 2004 Fall Conference.

E-Flash ideas should be developed. Advertisement and promotional ideas were discussed. Proclamation from the Governor will be solicited. “Why Study a World Language” presentations developed by our students on Power Point ,etc. can be highlighted and available for teachers to download. Involvement of professional athletes who speak other languages was also suggested. A PSMLA calendar of 2005 activities and ideas of how to connect with other disciplines will be done by D. Rao . Contacting Art, Music, Social Studies Departments to include them in our activities .as well as Principals welcoming students back to school in the Year of Languages were all ideas offered.

F. Mulhern will chair the YOL committee in conjunction with ACTFL and NECTFL. A job description will be developed by the Finance Committee for June.

•  E-Flash (Stewart)

The E-Flash will be fine tuned.

•  List Serve

P. Rzodkiewicz moved and V. Burke seconded that PSMLA ask D. Browne to find a list serve without all the advertisements.

Website

K. Williams is working on a Site Map for PSMLA Website.

Proposed Changes in the Constitution(Boykin)

A Proposal was made to have the election of Council in the Fall with new members taking office on January 1. Ballots could be included with renewal notices.

President Rzodkiewicz asked the Finance Committee to write up the Constitutional changes for presentation to the membership at the Fall Conference.

H. Committee Chairs are charged to give a paragraph job description and a checklist of what the committee is charged to do. Please bring this to the Fall Conference.

T. Fall suggested that a letter be drafted to districts announcing the election of an EXCO member explaining duties, meeting times, etc. and asking for their support and honoring the teacher . Also , names could be sent to local newspapers announcing the election of EXCO members as well as a Thank you note to teachers for their service when they leave Council.

Next Meeting – September Meeting/Work Session (Date and Location) Saturday, September 25, Sunday, September 26 at Ramada Inn, State College.

Meeting adjourned at 12:20 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Virginia Burke, secretary