The Impact of National and State Policy on Elementary School Foreign Language Programs: The Iowa Case Study

Abstract

This article reviews selected national policy recommendations and examines their impact on state policy making in Iowa, specifically in terms of the number and quality of Iowa elementary school foreign language programs and teacher qualifications from the mid‐1980s through the 1990s. Understanding the effect that these policies have had on early language programs in Iowa may help the profession determine the impact of national policy on state educational programs. This study suggests that future research on the impact of national policies in other states can help professionals design strategies for shaping policies in support of foreign language programs that begin in the early grades and continue through secondary school, building skills across levels.

The FLES teacher's voice

“…Mary Smiley, Elementary school teacher, Sheridan, Wyoming (NCLB/ESEA: Voices from America's Classrooms, 2008) Despite the evidence supporting the advantages of FLES (Schrier, 1996;Curtain & Pesola, 1994;Rhodes & Brannaman, 1999;Curtain & Pesola, 2000;Met, 2000;Rosenbusch, 2002;Lipton, 2004), currently two-thirds of American elementary schools do not offer any foreign language study (The Language Educator, April 2006), and NCLB does not treat foreign language as part of the core curriculum for assessment purposes, especially at the elementary school level, including only reading, math, and science scores in AYP goals. Although after the law was signed, former U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige issued a memo stating that foreign language is important and considered part of the core curriculum, NCLB does not mandate foreign language assessment.…”

“…FLES teachers, like teachers across the country, have personally witnessed the collision of rhetoric with reality. As an additional strain, some FLES teachers have noted a constricting of curriculum and a reduction or elimination of FLES programs in their districts in favor of the "core" curriculum areas of reading, mathematics, and science which are tested as required by NCLB (Rosenbusch, 2002). It was the aim of the present study to determine if Chicago Public School FLES teachers perceived any changes to their curriculum or their own behavior as a result of NCLB.…”

“…Against Mediocrity, Andersson (1969) (Rosenbusch, 2002, Hwa, 2005 (Andersson, 1969). However, lack of teacher preparation doomed these programs to fail, and FLES was put on the back burner until the world went to war again in 1939.…”

“…Hearing the teacher's voice is also essential for helping to inform teacher education programs prepare future teachers to thrive in the climate of NCLB and the mandate's future evolutions. Additionally, publishing a study that gives voice to the FLES classroom teacher may help these traditionally underrepresented teachers (Rosenbusch, 2002) feel a sense of involvement and empowerment in what many have called a "frustrating" situation (NEA, 2008(NEA, , www.edweek.org, 2008. Finally, hearing about the reality of teaching under NCLB directly from current teachers may help prospective teachers decide if they want to enter the teaching field at all.…”

“…Since NCLB's enactment, there has been a call in the profession of foreign language education for additional investigations into the little-researched impact of policy on elementary school foreign language (FLES) programs (Rosenbusch, 2002). Rosenbusch (2002) maintains that if early foreign language teachers learn about education policy, they will no longer be reluctant to get involved in the decisions that impact their students, their classrooms, and their jobs. While studying and understanding education policy is important for FLES programs in urban, rural and suburban districts, recent studies have indicated that urban districts are those most impacted by NCLB (CEP, 2008;Sunderman, et al, 2004; The Aspen Institute, 2007).…”