Application for Federal Assistance SF-424 

'Other (Specify) 

OMS Number 4040-0004 

Ion 02 

*1. Type of Submission: 

o Preapplication 

[8l Application 

:=J Changed/Corrected Application 

*2. Type of Applicatio~. 

[8l New 

o Continuation 

o Revision 

3. Date Receved : 4. Applicant Identifier 

)8. Federal Entity Identifier. *5b. Federal Award Identifier: 

:itate Use Only: 

i. Date Received by State: 7. State Application Identifier 

~. APPLICANT INFORMATION: 

a. Legal Name: Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School 

b. EmployerlTaxpayer Identification Number (EINITIN): *c. Organizational DUNS: 

13-6447115 808791821 

I. Address: 

Street 1: 

Street 2· 

::':ity: i\lllhes§.L_..___..._ 

County: 

3tate: 

Province: 

Country: 

':ip / Postal Code 

. Organizational Unit: 

epartment Name Division Name: 

Name and contact iAformation of person to be contacted on matters involving this application: 

:efix 

iddle Name: 

ast Name: 

Jffix: 

tie Pnncipal 

'rganizational Affiliation 

'elephone Number: 413-253-0216 Fax Number: 413-253-7932 

:mail info@pvcics.org 
14.2938 

OMB Number: 4040·0004 


Expiration Date: 01/3112009 


Application for Federal Assistance SF-424 Version 02 

*S. Type of Applicant 1: Select Applicant Type: 

G. Independent School District 

Type of Applicant 2: Select Applicant Type: 

Type of Applicant 3: Select Applicant Type: 

·Other (Specify) 

'10 Name of Federal Agency: 


JS Department of Education Foreign Language Assistance Program LEA (CFDA number 84.2938) 


11. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number: 

;FOA Title: 


'oreign Language Assistance Program Local Educational Agencies 
 ..-~.-

12 Funding Opportunity Number: 

<3pmLQ1 

rille: 


oreign Language Assisl<!nce f'so9.@_mLEA .. 
 ..-~"..­

3. Competition Identification Number: 


4-2938 2008-2_~..__._ 


'tie: 


Jreign Language Assistance Program LEA 


L Areas Affected by Project (Cities, Counties, States, etc.): 


3mpden, Hampshire and Franklin Counties, Massachusetts 


. Descriptive Title of Applicant's Project: Pioneer Chinese Initiative: K-12 Chinese immersion 

OMB Number 4040-0004 

Expiration Date 01/31/2009 

plication for Federal Assistance SF-424 Version 02 

Congressional Districts Of: 


Applicant: MA-2 'b. ProgramlProject MA·2, MA-1 

17. Proposed Project: 


"a. Start Date: September 2008 *b. End Date: September 2013 


18. Estimated Funding ($): 

·a. Federal $ 1,456,372 

'b. Applicant lBlLiL I

'c. State 

·d. Local 

'e. Other 

Of. Program Income 

"g. TOTAL (62(4) • 

*19. Is Application Subject to Review By State Under Executive Order 12372 Process? 

0 a. This application was made available to the State under the Executive Order 12372 Process for review on 

0 b. Program is subject to E.O. 12372 but h.as not been selected by the State for review. 

(;8J c. Program is not covered by E. O. 12372 

"20. Is the Applicant Delinquent On Any Federal Debt? (If "Yes". provide explanation.) 

DYes (;8J No 

21. 'By signing this application, I certify (1) to the statements contained in the list of certifications" and (2) that the statements herein are true, complete and 

accurate to the best of my knowledge. I also provide the required assurances" and agree to comply with any resulting terms if I accept an award. I am aware 

that any false, fictitious, or fraudulent statements or claims may subject me to criminal, civil, or administrative penalties. (U. S. Code, Title 218, Section 1001) 

(;8J ** I AGREE 

,. The list of certifications and assurances, or an internet site where you may obtain this list, is contained in the announcement or agency specific instructions 

Authorized Representative: 

Prefix Ms *First Name: Kathleen 

Middle Name: 

'Last Name: 

Suffix: 

Wang .­

*Title: Principal 


'Telephone Number: 413-253-0216 IFax Number: 413-253-7932 . 


'Email: info@pvcics.org 

'Signature of Authorized Representative: 7~0- k/a.--y I "Date Signed: April 25, 2008 

Authorized for Local Reproduction SUndard Form 424 (Revised 1012005) 

Prescribed by OMB Circular A-102 

OMB Number: 4040-0004 

Expiration Date: 01/31/2009 

\pplication for Federal Assistance SF-424 Version 02 
-" 'Applicant Federal Debt Delinquency EJ:_ ilation 

rhe following should contain an explanation jf the Applicant organization is delinquent of any Federal Debt 
SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION 


REQUIRED FOR 


DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 


L Project Director: 

::>refix: "'First Name: Middle Name: *Last Name: Suffix: 

~ Kathleen Wang ~ddress: 

* Street1: 7 Pomeroy Lane, Units 6-8 

Street2: 

,. City: Amherst 

County: 

* State ,. Zip Code: 01002 * Country: 

Phone Number (give area code) Fax Number (give area code) I413-253-7932 I Emai~Jcfrrees~s~:~======____________-=============~~ Iinfo@pvcics.org 

Novice Applicant Yes Not applicable to this program • . Human Subjects Research: 

Are any research activities involving human subjects planned at any time during the 

proposed project Period? 

Yes D No 

A.re ALL the research activities proposed designated to be exempt from the regulations? 

Yes 0 Provide Exemption(s) #: 

No o 'Provide Assurance #, if available: 

lease attach an explanation Narrative: 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 

Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School 


Pioneer Chinese Initiative 


A Proposal to the U.S. Department of Education 


Foreign Language Assistance Program (FLAP) 


Local Education Agency 


Application for Federal Assistance - SF 424 

Dept. of Education Supplemental Information Form for the SF 424 

Table of Contents 

Abstract 

Dept. of Education Budget Form - ED 524 Sections A and B 

Budget Narrative 

Narrative 

A. Need for the Project 1 

B. Project Design 5 

1. Goals, Objectives, and Outcomes 5 

2. Program Design 8 

3. Curriculum Development 10 

4. Assessing Student Learning 15 

5. Professional Development 18 

6. Outreach to Educational and Community Organizations 20 

7. Sustainability of the Project 21 

8. Replicability of the Project 22 

9. Dissemination Plans 23 

C. Project Personnel 24 

D. Management Plan 27 

E. Project Evaluation Plan 3 1 

Support Letters from Universities 

GEPA 427 Statement 

Assurances- Non-construction Programs SF 424B 

Certification Regarding Lobbying 

NOTE: the following are N/A but listed for completion: 

Survey on Ensuring Equal Opportunity for Applicants 

Disclosure of Lobbying Activities SF-LLL 

State Single Point of Contact 
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION I OMS Control Number: 1890-0004

.. 

BUDGET INFORMATION \ Expiration Date: 10~31-2007 NON·CONSTRUCTION PROGRAMS 

Applicants requesting funding for only one year should complete the column under "Project Year 


I." Applicants requesting funding for multi-year grants should complete all applicable coluJ1U1s. 


Name of Institution/Organization 

Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School Please read aU instructions before completing form. . 

SECTION A - BUDGET SUMMARY 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION FUNDS 

Budget Categories Project Year 1 Project Year 2 Project Year 3 Project Year 4 Project Year 5 Total 

(a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (1) I 

1. Personnel $137,400 I $148,629 I $144,070 $139,104 . $133,710 $702,914

2. Fringe Benefits $34,350 $37,1571 $36,018 $34,776 $33,428 I $175,728 

.1 3. Travel $12.575 1 $12,575 $12,575 $12,575 I $63,775 1 $13,47~·1 

4. Equipment $4,500 i $2,000 I $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 I $12,500

5. Supplies $20,000 $17,500 I $17,500 $17,500 $15,000 $87;500 

6. Contractual $65,948 $65,580 $66,636 $67,692 $68,748 $334,604

7. Construction I I 

8. Other $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 $10,000 I I 

9. Total Direct Costs (lines 1-8) $277,673 $285,441 $280,799 $275,647 $267,461 $1,387,021

10. Indirect Costs* $13,884 $14,272 $14,040 $13,782 $13,373 $69,351

It. Training Stipends 

12. Total Costs (lines 9·11) $291,557 $299,713 I $294,839 $289,430 $280,834 $1,456,372

*Indirect Cost Information (To Be Completed by Your Business Office): 


If you are requesting reimbursement for indirect costs on line 10, please answer the following questions: 


(1) Do you have an Indirect Cost Rate Agreement approved by the Federal government? No 

(2 ) If yes, please provide the following information: 

Period Covered by the Indirect Cost Rate Agreement: From: To: _1_1__ (mrnldd/yyyy) 

Approving Federal agency: __ ED Other (please specify) 

For Restricted Rate Programs (check one) -- Are you using a restricted indirect cost rate that: 

_ Is included in your approved Indirect Cost Rate Agreement'! or ._ Complies with 34 CFR 76.S64(c)(2)? 

ED 524 
Applicants requesting funding for only one yeat should complete the column I 1 '1(1IIle or illsnrutlonJUrganization under 

I "Project Year 1." Applicants requesting funding for multi-year grants should 

Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School complete all applicable columns. Please read all instructions before completing 

form. 

I 

SECTION B - BUDGET SUMMARY 

NON-FEDERAL FUNDS 

Proj ect Year 1 I Project Year 2 I Project Year 3 I Project Year 4 Project Year 5 ! Total 

Budget Categories (a) I (b) (c) I Cd) (e) Cf) 

. 1. Personnel -­ $ =1 $ • $. ! Iltl $ • 

$ II I I $1 ! .1 -I 12. Fringe Benefits I $ I

I 

$11 . ~ i I ~ 

I I 

'3. Travel I 

14. Equipment I i I I I 

5. Supplies I I I 

6. Contractual ~ 

"I 

$ I ' I '. ;-.. 

... I $ $ I.

I I Construction I .. ~ ... 8. Other I II rJ' // ~ 1\ 

9. Total Direct I , D) , ........ I ,Costs ~ I (Lines 1-8) j ~ i'\, , 

I " .. 

10. Indirect Costs I I . 11. Training I I 

I i Stipends 

! 12. Total Costs I , $ '1 Sl I $. I II I $. I (Lines 9-11 ) - . - 1 

I SECTION C - BUDGET NARRATIVE (see instructions) 

I 

ED 524 

The Pioneer Chinese Initiative 

Budget Narrative 


September 2008 through August 2013 


1. Personnel: 

Project Director (25 FTE) PVCICS' Principal, Kathleen Wang, will act as the Project Director 

(PD) and will devote .25 FTE to guide the project management. She will have oversight of the 

proposed project and provide management and recruitment leadership. She will be responsible for 

overall coordination ofthe project development, implementation, and evaluation activities as 

described in the project narrative. 

Year 1 Year 2 

Matching Funds ..Y.~.:...Ye.a:.:..Y.ea.:5.0 (~)(4) Federal Funds $0 $0 

Chinese Program Coordinator (1.0 FTE, with FLAP portion of funding declining to .20 over 5 

years) Zaiyun Lu is a highly qualified, experienced Chinese immersion teacher, who is proficient 

in Chinese language and culture instruction She will serve as the Chinese Program Coordinator 

(CPC). In Year 1 she will serve on the Design Team to coordinate development of the Chinese 

Language and Culture Curriculwn Framework. In Years 2 thru 5, she will continue to work on 

refinements of the framework and coordinate development ofChinese immersion content and 

Chinese Language Arts curriculum, instructional materials, experientialleaming opportunities, 

assessments and site implementation planning. This position will report to the Project Director. 

Year 1 ..Year_2_Year_3_Ye... ar 4 _Y..ear 5 (8)(4) Matching Funds $0 

Federal Funds $ 42,500 $ 35,020 $ 27,053 $ 18,576 $ 9,567 

Cherry Hsieh, PVCICS Business Manager, will be assigned to the project at .10 FTE to assist with 

budget and other administrative paperwork . 

Matching Funds 
 •Y.e.ar..l.....Y.e,ar..2.....Y.e.ar..3.....Y.e.ar.4......Y.e,ar.5.. ~Il~~~

Federal Funds $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 ....( 


Chinese Immersion Teachers (l.0 FTE at 198 days) 


Each year ofthe project PVCICS will be adding one grade to the K-12 immersion program. In Year 


2 thru 5 additional teachers will be recruited and hired. 


# Teachers 

Matching Funds 

Federal Funds 

Year 1 

8 

$0 

Year 2 

10 

$0 

Year 3 

12 

$0 

Year 4 Year 5 

14__16 (a»t!J.) 

$0 $o ......l '.­

Pioneer Chinese Initiative, budget narrative, page 1 
Chinese Language and Culture Secondary School Teacher (.50 FTE at 198 days in Yr. 1 and .70 

FTE in Yrs 2 thru 5) A highly qualified secondary school experienced Chinese language teacher 

will serve on the Design Team to lead the development of the Chinese Framework, benchmarks, 

assessments, and development and implementation of Chinese language instructional units and 

materials for both explicit language instruction and Chinese immersion content classes. This 

person will also help to develop age-appropriate experiential learning opportunities for students 

entering PVCICS' 6-12th grade partial immersion program. In Fall 2009, this teacher will 

implement the curriculum and instructional materials for students entering 6th grade in Year 2, 

adding grade 7 in Year 3, grade 8 in Year 4, and grade 9 in Year 5. A portion ofthis teacher's time 

will be used to support the Hadley Public Schools and is not included in this budget. A second 

teacher will be hired in Year 4 to staffthe partial immersion program . 

Year I Year 2 Year 3 

MatchingFunds $0 $0 $0 • Y.ear.4....Y.ear.5 (,,*)

Federal Funds $ 19,250 $ 27,759 $ 28,592 $ 29,449 $ 30,333 

Chinese Language and Culture Elementary School Teacher (.50 FTE at 198 days in Yr. 1 and .70 

FTE in Yrs 2 thru 5) Hsuan-chun Hsuis a highly qualified, experienced elementary-school Chinese 

immersion teacher. She will serve on the Design Team to develop the Chinese Framework, 

benchmarks, assessments, and deVelopment and implementation of elementary school 

instructional units and materials for both explicit language instruction and Chinese immersion 

content classes. She will also develop age-appropriate experiential learning opportunities. In Fall 

2009, she will oversee the implementation of the elementary school curriculum and instructional 

materials with Kindergarten and 1 st grade students in Year 2 and will add grades 2, 3 in Year 3; 

grades 4, 5 in Year 4; and grade 6 in Year 5. A portion of her timewill be used to support the 

Hadley Public Schools and is not included in this budget. 

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 

Matching Funds $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 

Federal Funds $ 19,250 $ 27,759 $ 28,592 $ 29,449 $ 30,333 

Chinese Language and Content Development Assistants (2.0 FTE for 185 days) 

Two Chinese language and content development teaching assistants will be recruited and hired as 

part of the immersion program staff. They will provide assistance to project teachers, assist with 

developing instructional materials, and provide small group reinforcement activities. They will 

have a special focus on adapting English language content curriculum materials, like math and 

science, into Chinese for use in Chinese immersion classrooms. Salary is calculated at $15Ihour. 

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 

Matching Funds $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 

Federal Funds $44,400 $45,732 $47,104 $48,517 $49,973 

Project Assistant (.50 PTE at 200 days) 


An experienced and qualified project assistant will be recruited and hired to perform all clerical 


duties for the project director. 


Pioneer Chinese Initiative, Budget Narrative, page 2 
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 

Matching Funds $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 

Federal Funds $ 12,000 $ 12,360 $ 12,731 $13,113 $ 13,506 

Total Personnel 

Matching Funds 

Federal Funds 

Year 1 Year 2 

$ 137,400 

•

$ 148,629 

Year 3 

I lEI 

$ 144,070 

Year 4 a, 

$ 139,104 

Year 5 

I I 

$ 133,710 

(-)~) 

2. Fringe Benefits: 

Fringe benefits are calculated at 25% of the total salaries for federal grant funded positions. 

Benefits are calculated at 16% for non grant funded positions due to reduced retirement system 

match. 

Matching Funds .Y.ear.l••Y.e.ar.2__.Yllll ear.3.'••y.e.a.r4•••Y.ear.5. C&X4t') 

Federal Funds $ 34,350 $ 37,157 $ 36,018 $ 34,776 $ 33,428 

3. Travel: 

Conduct annual visitations and collaborative activities with the Center Applied Second Language 

_/day 

Studies (CASLS) 

X 4 = $ ~X

at the University 

3 people = 

of$_ Oregon: 4 days - Airfare 1 E , hotel ....night X 3, meals lf~t1)

Massachusetts Foreign Language Association: 3 days in October Auto mileage $100, Hotel ~l~) $175/night X 2, meals tit/day X 3 _ X 4 teachers = __ ,U' 

ACTFL conference: 3 days in November - Registration _, airfare $.U.II'.;Hotel.,/night X 2~){LI) meals _/day X 3 = $ X 2 people = IS•• 

~:::o~~ ~:=~:~:~I_C:::7::~i~:;a:~f~e~e N;ilo~~lte~I;7~n;;~t~b;~~~:~_day (6)~) 


X4 31 L 

FLAP Washington kickoff session: 2 days - Airfare -.Hotel _night X 2, meals _day X(9(It) J=$. 

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 

Matching Funds $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 

Federal Funds $ 13,475 $ 12,575 $ 12,575 $ 12,575 $ 12,575 

4. Equipment: 

Funds are requested for two computers, warranty,and associated software for the project director 

and Chinese program coordinator. These computers will be used for program planning and 

management, developing instructional materials, translations, website development, etc. 

Pioneer Chinese Initiative, Budget Narrative, page 3 
Additional funds are requested to' provide two computers and software per year for Chinese 

immersion classroom use. 

Year I Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 

Matching Funds $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 

Federal Funds $ 4,500 $ 2,000 $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 

5. Supplies: 

Commercially available, age-appropriate Chinese language and culture instructional materials are 

limited. Therefore, funds are requested to review and purchase appropriate materials, realia, and 

. software programs (Chinese keyboard/software, vocabulary builder flashcards, Chinese 

dictionaries (hardbound and software), children's literature, Chinese magazines, etc. Funds will 

also be used to purchase supplies to create classroom instructional materials (foaln core board, glue, 

felt, pocket holders, tag board, overhead projector supplies, storage containers, organizers, etc.). 

Also included are office supplies, photocopy paper, photocopies, and other supplies needed for the 

FLAP project. 

Year I Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 

Matching Funds $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 

Federal Funds $ 20,000 $17,500 $17,500 $17,500 $15,000 

6. Contractual: 

The Oregon Flagship Collaborative at the Center Applied Second Language Studies (CASLS) will 

provide the following services to PVCICS: 

• 	 Recruiting assistance: CASLS network will help identifY qualified teachers and 

coordinators. 

• 	 Online Materials Database: CASLS will maintain a database of curricular materials shared 

by the members of the network, which will ease the burden of materials development for 

network members. 

• 	 Assessment services: CASLS is a national leader in language assessment and will advise 

PVCICS on available assessment options and on use and interpretation of data to improve 

instruction. 

• 	 Professional Development Services: CASLS will help PVCICS develop a comprehensive 

professional development plan to ensure ongoing, focused help for teachers. 

• 	 Summer Profossional Development Courses: CASLS will sponsor credit-bearing summer 

courses for K -12 immersion teachers to help them attain or maintain licensure through 

course work tailored to the needs of critical language immersion teachers. 

• 	 Annual Collaborative Meeting and Ongoing Networking: CASLS will sponsor an annual 

meeting of K-16 partnerships aimed at creating global professionals with superior language 

skills. This network of innovators will provide mutual support and resources at the annual 

face-to-face meeting and regular online support throughout the year. 

• 	 Chinese Flagship Academy for Students: This summer academy will prepare promising 

high school students to succeed at Flagship universities by providing them with the 

academic and linguistics skills needed to succeed in college-level content courses delivered 

in Chinese. Depending on funding, these will be at free or reduced cost. 

Pioneer Chinese Initiative, Budget Narrative, page 4 
• 	 Articulation to college: Ten Flagship universities around the country are currently 

accepting students into their honors,"level undergraduate programs, with the number 

expanding every year. Graduates ofK-12 members of the Collaborative will have the 

preparation and information to be eompetitive candidates for these honors-level programs 

. and the generous scholarships that come with them. 

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 

Matching Funds $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 

Federal Funds $ 25,000 $25,000 $25,000 $25.000 $25,000 

Chinese Language Association ofElementary-Secondary Teachers (CLASS), CLASS will assist 

PVCICS with the development ofthe Chinese language and culture curriculum framework and 

proficiency benchmarks. 

Year I Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 

Matching Funds $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 

Federal Funds $ 10,000 $10,000 $10,000 $10,000 $10,000 

Mr. Greg Duncan, Independent Evaluator will be contracted with to design and implement the 

project evaluation, conduct the evaluation; analyze the data, report the findings, and prepare 

reports. Calculated at $1 ,200/day for 8 days per year for site-visits, $ 2,000 for two round trip 

airfares and $1,600 for hotel and meals. 

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 

Matching Funds $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 

Federal Funds $ 14,200 $ 14,200 $ 14,200 $ 14,200 $ 14,200 

Expert Consultants. $8,400 per year is included in the budget for 7 days of on-site project 

consulting/training with experts in the field at $1,500/ per day plus $ 2,000 for two round trip 

airfares and $1,400 for hotel and meals. Experts who have worked with PVCICS in the past and 

win continue to do so in this project include Dr. Myriam Met, who, worked with PVCICS on the 

design ofits immersion program prior to school opening and Dr. Helena Curtain, who has provided 

and will be providing teacher training to PVCICS's teachers. PVCICS will also require training on 

the use of Online LinguaFolio. 

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 

Matching Funds $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 

Federal Funds $ 13,900 $ 13,900 $ 13,900 $ 13,900 $ 13,900 

Assessments: These funds are to conduct standardized tests, like NOELLA and STAMP, or contract 

with trained university students to conduct and grade assessments, as appropriate. Estimated at $16 

per assessment with pre-test and theend-of-year test conducted the first year of the program. 

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 

Matching Funds $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 

Federal Funds $2,848 $2,480 $3,536 $4,592 $5,648 

Pioneer Chinese Initiative, Budget Narrative, page 5 
Year 1 

$0 

An Advisory Committee will be formed with representative members to include PVCICS staff 

committed to the project's success; members of the local Chinese community; business members; 

parents; higher education and community college partners; and project staff. Matching funds 

calculated at eight members (not previously included elsewhere) for 10 two-hour meetings per 

school year at an hourly rate of $35. 

Y.ea.r.2••y..ear.3__y.ea.r4__Y.ear.5. (1*) In-Kind Funds 

Federal Funds 10 $0 $0 $0 

Professional Services: 

Prof Zhongwei Shen, Associate Professor of Chinese and Director, Asian Languages and 

Literatures at the University of Massachusetts/Amherst (.20 FTE) will provide professional 

expertise in linguistics and Chinese language teacher ~ertification. Additionally, Professor Shen 

will work with PVCICS to develop opportunities for teachers working on a Master ofArts in 

Teaching Chinese at the University ofMa<;sachusett<;/Amherst to either observe or train at PVCICS. 

Calculated at .20 FTE on an annual salary and fringe of$128,519. $128,519 x.2 $25,703 

Dr. Wanli Hu, Ph.D., Director ofThe China Program Center and Confucius Institute at the 

University of Massachusetts/Boston, brings the resources oftheir Mandarin Language Curriculum 

Resource Center which provides much needed training for teachers of Mandarin. $87,500 x .15 = 

$13,125 

U niversi ty 0 f Massachusetts Consultants 

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 YearS 

Matching Funds 

Federal Funds $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 

8. Other: 

Funds are included to provide transportation to and fees for events focusing on Chinese culture. 

These could range from taking stadents to community events, assemblies with invited community 

members, to sending students to China Center Program events in Boston. 

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 

Matching Funds $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 

Federal Funds $ 2,000 $ 2,000 $ 2,000 $ 2,000 $ 2,000 

9: Total Direct Costs: 

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 

Matching Funds C&>{.,.) Federal Funds $ 277,673 $ 285,441 $ 280,799 $ 275,647 $ 267,461 

Pioneer Chinese Initiative, Budget Narrative, page 6 
10. Indirect Costs: 

Indirect costs are calculated at 5% of the total Federal direct costs. 

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 

Matching Funds $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 

Federal Funds $ 13,884 $ 14,272 $ 14,040 $ 13,782 $ 13,373 

11. Total Costs: 

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 

Matching Funds (8)~) Federal Funds $ 291,557 $ 299,713 $ 294,839 $ 289,430 $ 280,834 

Pioneer Chinese Initiative, Budget Narrative, page 7 
NARRATIVE 


PART A. NEED FOR THE PROJECT 


Fundamental change requires fundamentally new approaches, new structures, and new 

thinking. Overcoming the significant challenges that often impede the creation of extended K-12 

sequences leading to Superior-level proficiency in critical languages requires partnerships 

spanning both traditional and non-traditional institutional and intellectual boundaries. The 

Pioneer Chinese Initiative offers a new approach that will be a model for many others nationally. 

Key elements of the Pioneer Chinese Initiative include: 1) a charter school funded by the state 

that draws students from a number ofdistricts, thereby gathering a critical mass ofstudents while 

leveraging limited human and materials resources; 2) a collaboration between that charter school 

and a public school district to enable a K-12 immersion program for students from a variety of 

districts; 3) leveraging state funding with federal funding used as seed money for the planning 

and development necessary to implement a high quality K-12 immersion program that will 

flourish long past the five years ofthe grant; and 4) higher education partnerships with a national 

Flagship institution (the University of Oregon) to complete the K-16 sequence, as well as with 

local universities (the University of Massachusetts/Amherst and the University of 

Massachusetts/Boston), 

The unique structure and set of strategies proposed by the Pioneer Chinese Initiative will 

address key issues facing this and similar projects nationally, including: 

• A shortage of highly qualified teachers 

• The lack of an articulated K-12 curriculum and supporting materials 

• Competition with other subject areas for time in the school day and year 

Pioneer Chinese Initiative, Page 1 
• Competition for a place in the curriculum with existing language programs and their tehured 

teachers 

The Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School (PVCICS) is well situated to 

implement this modeL It is the first and only elementary and secondary Chinese language and 

culture immersion school in New England. It is a regional charter public school serving 

predominately rural communities in Massachusetts, including much of Franklin County, the 

poorest county in the state. PVCICS also serves two of the poorest cities in Massachusetts, 

Holyoke and Springfield. Of the thirty-nine public-school districts that the school serves, only 

two offer any Chinese language instruction, and those serve only students residing in their own 

districts. Having a charter school that serves a large area has created a service area with a 

population on a scale comparable to those served by urban Chinese immersion programs. In fact, 

the Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School provides access to a world-class Chinese 

immersion program to children from 39 different school districts. 

After a rigorous charter approval process, PVCICS opened in August 2007 as a charter 

school ftmded by the state of Massachusetts1

. In its first year of existence, PVCICS is currently 

serving 42 students split between one kindergarten and one 1

5t grade classroom. Admission is by 

lottery and PVCICS has already expanded to admit two new classrooms of Kindergarten students 

for the fall of 2008, bringing its second year enrollment to roughly 89 students. Each year a new 

1 Massachusetts's charter school authorization process is ranked first in the nation by the Thomas 

B. Fordham Institute. In Charter School Authorizing: Are States Making the Grade?" they noted 

"Massachusetts has in place comprehensive application review and oversight processes. For new 

schools, it now involves an approval cycle that lasts nearly two years from initial application to . 

school opening." 

Pioneer Chinese Initiative, Page 2 
grade level will be added. An indication of the success of the program is that, since its inception, 

there has been a waiting list for entrance into the school. Most students enter with no proficiency 

in Mandarin. 

As would be the case with a charter school in any state, PVCICS is required to fulfill state 

requirements, in this case following the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks. To ensure 

compliance with those mandates PVCICS has elected to adapt a compliant English language 

curriculum in subjects like math and science for use in the Chinese immersion classrooms. In 

addition, the school offers Chinese Language Arts as a separate subject, includes cultural 

enrichment activities such as Chinese calligraphy, and is developing experiential learning 

opportunities for students to interact with native Chinese speaKers outside the classroom. In order 

to allow time to adequately cover this expanded curriculum, PVCICS has an extended-day 

schedule of 7 hours for Kindergarten and 1 st grades, and 7 hours 45 minutes for 2nd grade and up. 

In Kindergarten and 1

st grades, 75% of the school day is taught in Chinese. This allows 

roughly 945 contact hours per year with the language for the youngest students. In 2nd through 5th 

grades, 50% of the school day will he in Chinese and 50% in English. After 6th grade, 25% of the 

school day will be in Chinese, including Chinese Language Arts as well as other content and 

experientialleaming opportunities. After completing grades K-8, students will have had an 

estimated 5,700 contact hours with Chinese. 

As a Massachusetts charter school, PVCICS receives tuition payments from the state 

based on the number of students enrolled. The school is also currently receiving additional 

startup funding from the state that will end after the 2008-2009 academic year. While the state 

funding has made the very existence of the school possible, PVCICS faces the unique problem 

encOlll1tered by any language immersion school: the necessity of beginning with Kindergarten 

and adding a grade each year as students move up to the next grade, which severely restricts the 

Pioneer Chinese Initiative, Page 3 
number of students at the beginning,just when the school has its greatest need for research and 

development funding. As a result, PVCICS needs additional, upfront funding to develop a 

sequential K-12 curriculum language and culture framework with two pathways for students-a 

K-12 immersion pathway for students who enter in Kindergartei., and a new 6-12 partial 

. immersion pathway (projected at a minimum of one classroom) for students who enter in 6th 

grade; create instructional units and materials; train teachers and staff; and implement an 

appropriate proficiency-based language assessment system that infonns teaching and learning in 

a constant loop of feedback. It is for this reason that the school is submitting this proposal to the 

U.S. Department of Education. 

In order to leverage state and federal monies should this proposal be funded, PVCICS 

will use a modest part of the grant monies to join the Oregon Flagship Collaborative at the 

University of Oregon's Center Applied Second Language Studies (CASLS). PVCICS will 

greatly benefit from their experience and leadership in Chinese immersion. CASLS will also be 

integral to the professional development component ofthe project and will network the Pioneer 

Chinese Initiative with other FLAP grantees for the sharing of ideas, expertise, and materials. 

PVCICS will also work collaboratively with the University ofMassachusetts in teacher 

preparation and training to increase the overall supply of highly qualified Chinese teachers. 

At the completion of the five-year project PVCICS will have designed an articulated K12 immersion program that has been implemented through grade six, and an associated 6-12 

partial immersion program that has been implemented through grade 9, thus creating a critical 

mass of students in the charter school large enough to sustain the program well into the future 

through student tuition payments from the state. 

Pioneer Chinese Initiative, Page 4 
PART B. PROJECT DESIGN 

1) Goals, Objectives and Outcomes: 

Goal 1: The K-12 Chinese immersionprogram will prepare students to reach the Superior 

level of proficiency in Chinese language and culture. 

Objective 1.1 Students completing the 6th grade of the K-12 immersion path during 

this five-year grant period will be on track to reach the Superior level of proficiency in 

Chinese by grade 16, college graduation. 

Outcome 1.1.1 Students will reach Intennediate LowlMid by grade 6. 

Objective 1.2 Students completing the 9th grade of the 6-12 partial immersion path 

during this five-year grant period will be on track to reach at least the Advanced High 

level ofproficiency in Chinese by grade 16, college graduation. 

Outcome 1.2.1 Students will reach Intennediate Low by grade 9. 

Goal2: Students from the 39 school districts that comprise PVCICS's region of service will 

have access to a challenging, standards-based, and well-articulated K-12 sequence of study 

of Chinese that will prepare them to enter an institution of higher learning and reach the 

highest levels of proficiency in the Chinese language. 

Objective 2.1 The curriculum in PVCICS's immersion programwill demonstrate the 

components of a well-articulated, standards-based, sequence of language study. 

Outcome 2.1.1 The program will have and follow a standards-based, contentbased curriculum as evaluated by an independent outside evaluator. 

Outcome 2.1.2 The program will include explicit language instruction. 

Outcome 2.1.3 The program will involve students in experientialleaming. 

Pioneer Chinese Initiative, Page 5 
Objective 2.2 The curriculum will be offered for a substantive amount of time daily and 

weekly for the entire school year. 

Outcome '2.2.1 Students in the K-12 immersion path will learn in Chinese: 75% of 

dayl1575 minutes per weekfor grades K-1;50% ofday/1163 minutes per weekfor 

grades 2-5; 25% ofday/582 minutes per weekfor grades 6-8. High school time 

for grades 9-12 will be determined in the planning and development process. 

Outcome 2.2.2 Students in the 6-12 partial immersion path will learn in Chinese: 

25% ofday/582 minutes per weekfor grades 6-8. High school time for grades 9­

12 will be determined in the planning and development process. 

Objective 2.3 The program will use performance assessments to meao;;ure, inform, and 

improve student learning. 

Outcome 2.3.1 Teachers will use formative assessments throughout the 

school year to measure student progress in the language. 

Outcome 2.3.2 All students will take at least one summative performance 

assessment at the end of each school year. 

Outcome 2.3.3 All students will have an online LinguaFolio portfolio. 

Outcome 2.3.4 The staff of the project will demonstrate use of data from 

performance assessments for program analysis and improvement. 

Objective 2.4 The program will use high quality materials in the target language that 

reflect and support the focus of the program on content-based learning, explicit language 

instruction, and experiential learning. 

Outcome 2.4.1 Program materials will support the program's goals and 

objectives as judged by an independent outside evaluator. 

Pioneer Chinese Initiative, Page 6 
Goal3: In-service teachers and pre-service teachers of Chinese will be better prepared to 

teach in immersion, partialimmersion, FLES and secondary programs as the resulfoftheir 

involvement with this project. 

Objective 3.1 In-service PVCICS teachers will become more knowledgeable about and 

skillful in teaching Chinese through intensive, highly effective professional development. 

Outcome 3.1.1 The program staffwiU participate in no fewer than three 

professional development opportunities per year. 

Objective 3.2 Pre-service teachers will have more opportunities to observe, be 

mentored, and practice teaching in an immersion setting as a result of this project. 

Outcome 3.2.1 The University of Massachusetts will offer pre-service K -12 

Chinese teachers on-going opportunities to observe, be mentored, and practice 

teaching at PVCICS and in the Hadley Public School District program. 

Goal 4: The Pioneer Chinese Initiative will be a vital part of the general and educational 

communities in the state and nation, involving all parties in a two-way process of 

information, enrichment and program development. 

Objective 4.1 The project will establish partnerships with K-16 programs where 

Chinese is taught~ including no fewer than two Chinese immersion schools and three 

universities. 

Outcome 4.1.1 The project will build cooperative relationships with no fewer 

than two other immersion schools and three universities in the nation. 

Objective 4.2 The project will involve parents, business, industry, and community 

organizations in the program. 

Outcome 4.2.1. No fewer than one representative from each group will be active 

on the Advisory Committee. 

Piom;er Chinese Initiative, Page 7 
Outcome 4.2.2. The project will make at least one public presentation per year 

sharing information and inviting public input into the project. 

Objective 4.3 Students in the program will have opportunities to participate in 

community events that are tied to their Chinese language learning. 

Outcome 4.3.1. Students in the program will participate in no fewer than two 

community events each year of the project 

GoalS: The results of this collaboration between a charter school, public schools, and 

institutions of higher learningin offering a K-12 Chinese immersion program that prepares 

students for university study will be disseminated nationally. 

Objective 5.1 Project personnel will make presentations at professional conferences 

at the local, state, and national levels. 

Outcome 5.1.1. Project personnel will make at least one presentation 

describing what is learned in this project at a state, regional, or national 

conference each year ofthe project. 

Objective 5.2 Project personnel will share what has been learned from the project in 

professional publications. 

Outcome 5.2.1 Project personnel will submit no Iewer than two articles to state, 

regional and national professional publications describing the project and its 

results. 

2) Program Design 

In 2006, PVCICS's founding group used some of the charter developer funding provided 

by the Massachusetts Department of Education to visit five mature Chinese early-immersion 

programs. During each school visit, teachers, administrators and parents were interviewed and 

Pioneer Chinese Initiative, Page 8 
students were observed during classes. The schools visited were: Potomac Elementary School in 

Potomac, Maryland; Woodstock Elementary School in Portland, Oregon; Meyerholz Elementary 

in Cupertino, California; Alice Fong Yu Alternative Elementary School in San Francisco; and the 

Chinese American International School (CAIS) in San Francisco. 

Based on that research and in part on the high retention ofstudents experienced at the 

Alice Fang Yu Alternative Elementary School, PVCICS was designed to be a K_Sth grade school 

with all students participating in the Chinese immersion program at a single facility. For grades 9 

thru 12, the school has elected to partner with the Hadley Public School District. That district will 

host PVCICS's 9-12 immersion classes, share their high school facility and other educational 

services. 

PVCICS will use the FLAP funding to: 1) build on its existing K-l one-way total 

Chinese immersion path by expanding through grade 6 and planning for implementation thro'ugh 

grade 12; and 2) design and implement grades 6-9 of a two-hour-per-day partial immersion path 

for late-entry 6th graders that will eventually expand through grade 12. 

At the same time, PVCICS will collaborate with the Hadley Public School District to 

create a n~w K -12 Chinese World Language program in the Hadley schools, thus broadening the ---..../.,_....~- '--.~...... 

impact of the project Within that collaboration, PVCICS will share expertise, materials, 

curriculum, and professional development with the Hadley Public School District. To facilitate 

this collaboration, in August 200S PVCICS wili move four miles from its current location to 

Hadley. Locating PVCICS's and Hadley's 9-12 programs on one campus will offer opportunities 

to share resources, allow students a wider range of Chinese offerings, and provide long-term 

program stability. 

In order to sustain commitment to the project, a Design Team involving school 

administrators, university experts, teachers, and community members will work to research and 

Pioneer Chinese Initiative, Page 9 
plan strategically for important programmatic, curricular, and outcome decisions. Experts at the 

University of Oregon and the University of Massachusetts will provide immersion experience in 

cognate and non-cognate languages as well as processes for planning in one-way immersion and 

foreign language programs. Representatives from the Chinese Language Association of 

Secondary-Elementary Schools (CLASS), which participated in the creation ofthe Standards for 

Foreign Language Learning in the 2Jst Century and the CLASS Professional Standards for K-J 2 

Chinese Language Teachers, will also be involved in the Design Team. 

3) Curriculum Development 

Research conducted by Met (2004), Arnall (1992), Curtain (1993), Louton and Louton 

(1992) Omaggio (2001), Lebach (1974), Rhodes et al (1981) and many others has informed the 

basis of PVCICS's immersion program. Lessons Learned: Modd early foreign language 

programsby Gilzow, D. F., & Branaman,L. E. (2000) and Languages and Children - Making 

the Match: New Languagesfor Young Learners, Grades K-8 by Curtain, H and Dalberg, C. A. 

(2004) present key elements for developing and sustaining early language programs. Those 

elements have informed and shaped the design of the Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter 

School as well as the planning for this proposal. 

As a charter public school PVCICS offers curriculum that is aligned with the 

Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks' (MCFs) standards and learningstrands for the Arts, 

English Language Arts, Foreign Languages, Comprehensive Health, Mathematics, History/Social 

Science, Science and Technology/Engineering. Current curriculum and that to be designed in this 

project will address the learner outcomes for all Massachusetts students at a given grade leveL If 

immersion schools are to be widely accepted in the nation, this will be a critical step in their 

design and implementation. 

Pioneer Chinese Initiative, Page to 
Some subjects will be taught in English and some in Chinese. For subjects taught in 

Chinese, PVCICS will adapt and develop instructional resources that are either aligned with the 

Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks or can be easily be brought into alignment to produce 

grade-appropriate and linguistically accessible Chinese teaching materials. Where possible, 

curricular resources will also be adapted to support the school's cultural mission. Adaptation of 

English language curriculum for use in immersion progrqIDS is a strategy that has been 

successfully implemented in other Chinese immersion programs. Dr. Myriam Met helped design 

this curriculum-adaptation strategy for PVCICS. 

PVCICS expects all students to attain high academic standards, and its curriculum is 

being designed to enable students to meet those high expectations. Because students will be 

learning some curriculum through the medium of a new language, curriculum adaptation is used 

to make it linguistically accessible without diluting or lowering standards. When teachers adapt 

curriculum for use in immersion classrooms, they generally: 1) Consult the curriculum guide to 

identifY unit goals and objectives as well as how they will know whether or .not students have 

met those objectives; 2) Identify language required for learning (e.g structures, expressions, key 

vocabulary); 3) List instructional experiences and supporting materials that will help students 

reach those learning objectives; 4) Rewrite text to make it comprehensible in the target language 

by using simpler structures and shorter sentences; emphasizing key terms through boldface or 

highlighting; making the meanings of key terminology transparent by use ofpictures, diagrams, 

charts, and graphic organizers; and making the meaning of key terminology comprehensible by 

defining it through mUltiple examples, paraphrasing, restating, synonyms, antonyms, and 

definitions. 

In most immersion programs, classroom teachers adapt curriculum resources themselves, 

a practice that is most likely to result in materials best adapted to student needs and abilities; 

Pioneer Chinese Initiative, Page 11 
however, this practice can result ina poorly articulated program. In other programs, additional 

. personnel (teacher aides; volunteers, external consultants) may be responsible for this process. 

This project will take advantage of the strengths of both approaches: classroom teachers working 

as part of a team that is supported by a designated curriculum developer and by input from other 

experts to design a well-articulated curriculum with designated teaching strategies. 

In addition, the project will exchange ideas and materials wherever possible with other 

. FLAP projects in the collaborative hosted by the Chinese Flagship Program at the University of 

Oregon. This networking and sharing will be facilitated by an online materials database that will 

be housed at the Center for Applied Second Language Studies (CASLS). This database will 

address a concern at the lack of national coordination that was cited in the Asia Society's Chinese 

Field Report 2008. 

In the program and curriculum design to be accomplished in this project, the Design 

Team will keep best practices in immersion education as its primary focus. Best practices will 

inform all the planning for and design of ins.tructional strategies and resources- including the 

design of units and lessons, learner outcomes, and instructional delivery. The Design Team will 

specify what teachers will be doing, what students will be doing, what instructional resources 

will support student learning, how students will be assessed, and how the results of assessments 

will be used in a constant loop of program evaluation and improvement. 

A) Development of a K-12 Articulation and Language CurriculumFramework 

In the past, many language immersion progr.ams in the U.S. and Canada did not have, and 

some still do not have, formal language curricula. Programs that did engage in language 

curriculum development usually did so att~e unit and l~~son plan levels and focused on the 

specific language needed to understand specific content. As a result, assessment results have 

shown that students in some programs have been left with deficits in social language. Further, 

Pioneer Chinese Initiative, Page 12 
since individual teachers planned the units and lessons by themselves, articulation across grade 

levels suffered. 

PVCICS research at other immersion schools and conversations with experts like those at 

the Center Applied Second Language Studies (CASLS) have reinforced the project planners's 

belief that the development and implementation of a second language curriculum framework is 

an important step in ensuring the success of any language program model. The critical goal of 

language acquisition cannot be left to chance. A language curriculum framework defines 

benchmarked proficiency goals at various levels and ensures that students learn not just academic 

language but social language as well. Having an articulated language curriculum framework also 

ties the planning of units and lessons to student performance, thus fostering greater accountability 

and program rigor. This is particularly crucial in a non-cognate language like Chinese, in which 

students cannot rely on LI (English) to inform hypotheses regarding the target language. 

A first major milestone of Year 1 of this project then will be the construction of a 

comprehensive K-12 Chinese Language and Culture Curriculum Framework. Using successful 

models developed at other school nationwide, the Design Team will work with the Oregon 

Flagship Collaborative at CASLS as well as with the Chinese Language Association of 

Secondary-Elementary Schools (CLASS) to develop clearly stated proficiency benchmarks for 

each grade, as well as specific syntactic and semantic features to be mastered. This framework 

will be a dynamic template rather than a static document. It will be resilient enough to guide 

instruction regardless of variables (e.g., district curriculum or student demographics) that may 

change over time. Furthermore, the framework will constantly be reviewed and adjust~d in light 

of student data from performance assessments. 

The process ofdeveloping a framework will also be central to the professional 

development efforts in the first years of the project.leachers, like students, learn best by doing . ., 

Pioneer Chinese Initiative, Page 13 
The process of examining the second language acquisition research, reflecting on existing 

curriculllll1, studying other models, and detennining concrete proficiency goals will help 

PVCICS' Chinese teachers and other program staff to become more knowledgeable and 

reflective practitioners. 

B) Focusing the Curriculum: Balancing Content-based Language Learning and Explicit 

Language Instruction with Experiential Learning 

1) Experiential Learning 

Engaging students in experiential learning requires them to utilize their language and 

cultural skills, fosters higher levels of motivation, and contextualizes their learning. Borrowing 

from and collaborating with other successful programs, PVCICS will establish regular 

experiential learning opportunities to help ensure higher language proficiency outcomes. 

Students in the secondary school program will be required to complete a minimum of 135 hours 

of documented Community-Based Language Learning (CBLL) activities for one year of high 

school elective credit. Whether working locally as a tutor for young Chinese learners, as a 

volunteer with a community organization to support recent Chinese immigrants, or traveling as 

an exchange student to China, students will document their experiences in both 'written and oral 

presentations in class and in the broader community. PVCICS plans to develop elementary and 

middle-school summer Chinese immersion camps to facilitate student learning and teacher 

training. Working with the Amherst and Springfield Chinese Heritage schools and the Pioneer 

. Valley Chinese-American Association, the project will also plan at least two cultural events 

every year that will link students with the local Chinese-speaking community. 

Because in-country learning experiences are critical for advanced level language 

development, especially with non-heritage speakers, PVCICS will implement a capstone 

academic trip to China in the 8th grade and strongly support and promote student exchanges in 

Pioneer Chinese Initiative, Page 14 
high schooL Lastly, PVCICS will offer opportunities for students to connect with students in 

China, including developing a "sister" school relationship with a school in China and working 

with iEARN (The International Education and Resources Network- iEARN.org) to develop 

online projects with schools in China and Taiwan. 

2) Content-base Learning and Explicit Instruction 

Academic arguments regarding the relative importance of implicit learning versus 

explicit instruction have been raging for decades. Given the long-term goal of high levels of 

proficiency, however, both experiential and formal learning are essential. Lever and Shekhtman 

(2002) argue persuasively for the need to integrate transmission (knowledge), transaction 

(doing), and transformation (cr~ating) to develop high-level proficiency. 

Transmission (knowing) Transaction (doing) Transformation (creating) 

Explicit Instruction Explicit Instruction 

Academic Content 

Experiential Learning 

Content (research and writing) 

TillS approach is also consistent with National Standards. Experiential learning address the 

Community standards, wlllch are most often neglected in traditional programs. The 

metalinguistic and metacognitive components of explicit instruction address the Comparisons 

standard. Obviously, learning academic content in Chinese fulfills the Connections standard. 

Communication and Culture are intertwined throughout the program. 

4) Assessing Student Learning: Using Performance Feedback for Continuous 

Program Improvement. 

The Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School program and the proposed FLAP 

project have both been designed to gather and use student-performance data to guide all activities 

Pioneer Chinese Initiative, Page [5 
and decisions: administrative, curricular, and pedagogic. Because the program and the FLAP 

project have such a strong focus on student performance data it is essential that the assessment 

system be reliable, valid, easy to manage, and provide usable feedback to teachers, 

administrators, students, and parents. 

The assessment .data will be used in four ways: I)to improve articulation by providing 

easy access to student performance data according to common terms of reference; 2) to evaluate 

prograrn,curriculum, and instructional effectiveness; 3) to inform adjustments to the program 

where necessary; and 4) to help individualize and differentiate instruction to meetthe needs of 

students. 

1he assessment plan for this project will be three pronged: 1) formative performance 

assessments developed by the Design Team (which includes classroom teachers), to provide 

continuous information that is close to the classrooms and the content being studied; 2) nationally 

validated, summative performance assessments for every student at the end of every year ofthe 

project to provide reliable data on student learning and program effectiveness; and 3) a portfolio 

system that will enable students to take ownership of their own learning. 

The formative performance assessments will be developed by the program teachers, will 

be curriculum embedded and will be administered throughout the year to provide constant 

information on student growth in the language. A minimum of two writing assessments per 

quarter will be required. 

The summative performance assessments will be two online proficiency assessments: the 

National Online Early Language Learning Assessment (NOELLA) for grades 2-5 and the 

Standards-based Measurement of Proficiency (STAMP) for grades 6-8. Both assessments were 

developed by the Center for Applied Second Language Studies (CASLS), NOELLA as part of a 

FLAP grant (leveraged by Chinese Flagship funds for the Chinese version). With the guidance of 

Pioneer Chinese Initiative, Page 16 
the Oregon Flagship Collaborative of which this project will be a part, PVCICS will employ the 

Chinese language version of these two valid and reliable assessment instruments. 

These proficiency assessments will be administered at the beginning of the first year 

funded to gather baseline data for listening, speaking, and reading. In subsequent years, student 

growth will be measured against those baseline assessments. They will again be administered 

each May to show annual student gains. 

In cases where there is a need for information specific to student proficiency in 

Interpersonal Communication beyond that generated by the formative assessments, a statistically 

significant number of students will be assessed using the Early Language Learning Oral 

Proficiency Assessment (ELLOPA) for K-2 students and the Student Oral Proficiency 

Assessment (SOP A) for students in grades 3-6. Those assessments were not included in this plan 

as a major component because of recent research questioning their validity. Should those 

questions be resolved and the ELLOPA and SOPA be found to be valid measurements (or should 

new, more valid assessments be developed) the Design Team will weave them back into the 

overall student-assessment plan. In the meantime, they will be used only as backstops. 

The third prong of the assessment plan will be LinguaFolio Online, a portfolio system 

that has been developed and piloted by the National Council of State Supervisors for Languages 

(NCSSFL). Modeled after the highly successful European Language Portfolio of the Council of 

Europe, LinguaFolio Online is a system where second language learners record and reflect on 

their language learning. At the heart of LinguaFolio Online are "Carillo's"; Concise statements 

of specific abilities in the language organized into various proficiency levels. At the Novice-high 

level, for example, one CanDo statement is "1 can exchange personal information." A student 

could choose "This is a goal," "1 can do this with help," or "I can do this easily." The student will 

Pioneer Chinese Initiative, Page 17 
then be able to attach evidence, such as an audio file of a conversation, to this statement to prove 

that his or her self-assessment is indeed accurate. 

LinguaFolio consists of three parts; 1) The Language Passport is a summary of student 

performance, including self-evaluations in the form of CanDo statements and standardized test 

scores such as STAMP, OPI, or AP; 2) The Language Biography, where students keep a record 

oftheir progress on CanDo statements as well as their personal language learning historY, 

reflecting on their own goals for learning the language, any experiences they have had with the 

language, e.g. travel, visits to a cultural center; and 3) The Language Dossier is a compilation of 

evidence supporting student proficiency claims on the CanDo statements. With LinguaFolio 

Online, it will be easy for students to keep track ofwhat they want to learn, what they are 

learning, and keep examples oftheir best work in an electronic portfolio. 

One other set of data will be gathered, analyzed and reported: the students' gains in basic 

skills as measured by the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System's tests for English 

rt,?ading and writing, as well as mathematics. While these skills do not necessarily relate directly 

to growth in the Chinese language, reporting on them is essential for the survival and health of 

any immersion program. In effect, documenting that students in language immersion schools 

demonstrate equal or greater growth in these areas as compared to students in English language 

schools is a critical argument for increasing the number of imll1ersion schools nationwide. 

5) Professional Development for In-service and Pre-service Teachers 

PVCICS has structured its professional development to address the challenge of finding 

experienced Chinese immersion teachers. PVCICS recruits teachers nationally and expects to 

have to "grow" its own teachers. Accordingly, the schools' professional development philosophy 

is to invest in teachers with native language skills, solid academic credentials, and work 

Pioneer Chinese [nitiative, Page 18 
experience in U.S. elementary schools, by developing them internally and providing them with a 

career path to more senior positions. An essential part of the school's job-embedded professional 

development is a program of peer coaching, mentoring, and classroom observations. In addition, 

. all new teachers are encouraged to take a week-long immersion course before starting at the 

schooL Opportunities provided by the school have included participation in CARLA's Immersion 

for Teaching Asian Languages, as well ao; on-site workshops by Dr. Helena Curtain in building 

thematic units in an immersion environment This summer, teachers will attend UMasslBoston 

and CLASS summer institutes and Dr. Curtain will return. But these kinds of professional 

development are very expensive for one school. 

With the initiation of the Chinese Flagship Collaborative at the University of Oregon, 

PVCICS will be part of a professional-development partnership, sharing resources with other 

Chinese language schools. CASLS will work with the Pioneer Chinese Initiative and with other 

FLAP projects to identify professional development needs and design a comprehensive plan to 

ensure ongoing, focused help for teachers. Partnering with CASLS and the Flagship 

Collaborative will leverage the school's limited human and materials resources as well as provide 

ideas and professional development opportunities for the staff that would otherwise be unlikely. 

Included in this collaboration will be summer courses tailored to the needs ofK-12 Chinese 

immersion teachers. CASLS will also establish a network of schools in the Collaborative, 

through an annual meeting and ongoing, online support throughout the year for mutual support 

and sharing of expertise and resources. 

Because many of the students in the University of Massachusetts' teacher-preparation 

program for future teachers of Chinese, work at PVCICS, or will be immersion teachers at it and 

other similar programs around the nation, every effort will be made to include and involve preservice teachers in the professional development activities generated by this project. 

Pioneer Chinese Initiative, Page 19 
Specifically, PVCICS will work with the UMass programs to facilitate observations and practiceteaching opportunities for their students, including establishing mentorships by PVCICS teachers 

and staflwith the students. Professor Zhongwei Shen of the Department ofAsian Languages and 

Literatures at UMass/Amherst and Dr. Wanli Hu, Director of the UMass/Boston China Program 

Center and the UMass Confucius Institute will be central in these initiatives. 

6) Outreach to Educational and Community Organizations 

Community members have been integral in the development of the PVCICS program and 

ofthis proposaL Involvement of stakeho Iders will be expanded to an Advisory Committee for the 

FLAP project that will be comprised of representatives from the Hadley Public Schools; 

members of the local Chinese community, business members, parents, higher education partners, 

and students (as appropriate). Committee members will include Dr. Kathleen Riordan, Dr. Chihwen Su, Dr. Yu-Lan Lin, Prof. Ranjanaa Devi, Mr. Chung Liu, Mr. Robert Chung and Mr. Greg 

Duncan. Background bios for these members is in Part C: Personnel Section of this application. 

The Advisory Committee will provide expertise and guidance to the project, act as 

liaisons between the project and their representative communities and other stakeholders, and 

assist in the facilitation of community-based project activities. The Advisory Committee will 

meet a minimum of once per month or more often as needed. 

As part of this project, PVCICS will also work closely with three institutions of higher 

education: the Chinese Flagship Program at the University of Oregon, which will be the host of 

the Oregon Flagship Collaborative; the University ofMassachusetts/Amherst; and the University 

of Massachusetts/Boston. The project plan is to meet monthly online or via teleconference with 

representatives of each and/or all of these institutions to facilitate the sharing of ideas and 

expertise. Some examples of topics that will be addressed in these meetings are : 1) sharing 

Pioneer Chinese Initiative, Page 20 
expertise in proficiency-based Chinese language instruction, assessment, and program 

articulation, 2) linking UMass's Chinese heritage speakers as mentors/tutors for PVCICS 

students, 3) providing on-site experiences at PVCICS for pre-service teachers in the UMass 

teacher-preparation programs; 3) sharing and adapting instructional materials; and 4) sharing of 

materials, courses, and exchange opportunities resulting from UMass's network of partner 

universities in China. 

In addition, as part of the outreach and student-service component ofthis project, sample 

activities-will include: 1) school-to-school activities, where PVCICS students practice their 

language skills inperformances and celebrations at other schools; 2) activities with the heritage 

community, where students participate in cultural events in the areas or volunteer at local 

heritage~language schools; and 3) community partnerships, where students share their knowledge 

of Chinese art, culture, and language with museums and area libraries. (PVCICS ha<; a 

partnership \vith the Springfield museums.) 

7) Sustainability of the Project 

The Pioneer Chinese Initiative herein proposed is a five-year project to build on and 

leverage what the State of Massachusetts has already invested in the first and only elementary 

and secondary Chinese immersion school in New England. FLAP funds will be used as seed 

money for the upfront long- range research, planning, and development ofan articulated K-12 

Chinese immersion program. The products ofthe FLAP grant will include an articulated K-12 

Chinese Language and Culture Curriculum Framework; materials that will support that 

curriculum; a staff that has received extensive professional development to prepare themto teach 

that curriculum; and an assessment program that will gather, analyze and use data on student 

performance in Chinese to inform and improve instruction in a constant loop of feedback. The 

Pioneer Chinese Initiative, Page 21 
involvement of a national Flagship university, the University of Oregon, and two local university 

campuses ofthe University of Massachusetts will ensure that the project is well informed and 

. guided in this process. 

PVCICS will also have established a firm relationship with the Hadley Public School 

District, which will give the program a physical location and shared resources for grades 9~12; 

with community and language organizations in the region; and with Chinese immersion programs 

nationally. 

When the five-year grant period is completed, the Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion 

Charter School will have designed a fully articulated K·12 immersion program, implementedK ... 6 

of the total immersion and 6-9 of the partial immersion paths, and have the appropriate resources 

to continue the immersion programs through grade 12. Because of expanding to these higher 

grades, there will be sufficient student enrollment and associated state funding to sustain the 

program far past the life of the grant. In essence, by funding this program, which serves a large 

area of Massachusetts; this grant will build regional capacity for Chinese immersion. 

8) Replicability of the Project 

The Pioneer Chinese Initiative will provide for the nation' a model of a charter school 

funded by the state to serve a number of school districts working with public school districts and 

institutions of higher learning to build a well-articulated K-12 immersion program in a critical 

language that prepares students to achieve Superior level proficiency at a university, 

In many areas of the country this concept will make a long sequence of immersion study 

possible where it would not be possible otherwise. It addresses the challenge offinding a critical 

mass of students to justifY a full immersion school by drawing students from a wider area than a 

single district. It addresses the challenge of limited human and material resources by pooling 

Pioneer Chinese Initiative, Page 22 
state and local dollars. It provides a model of how charter and traditional public schools can work 

together for the benefit of both and ofstudents who wish to become highly proficient in another 

language. 

The Pioneer Chinese Initiative will add information to national discussions about the 

effectiveness ofimmersion curriculum and materials in Chinese through the data gleaned from 

student performance assessments. It will also demonstrate the way in which a publicly funded 

critical-language immersion school can enable students to meet or surpass state requirements for 

all content areas while still providing much ofthe instruction in another language. 

9) Dissemination Plans 

1be results and information gleaned from this 5-year project will be disseminated 

nationwide in a number of ways: 1) The K-12 Chinese Language and Culture Framework and 

supporting materials will be contributed to Oregon Flagship Collaborative's data base, where 

they will be available at no cost to schools and districts throughout the country; 2) The Pioneer 

Chinese Initiative staffwill make presentations at state, regional, and national professional 

conferences, including ACTFL, MaFLA and the National Charter School Conference, to share 

what will be learned from the implementation ofthis model, including the curriculum and 

. curricular materials, the student performance data gathered and how it informed program 

modifications, and the effectiveness ofthe charter-tradition school collaborative model; 3) The 

Pioneer Chinese Initiative staff will submit articles describing lessons leamed from the project to 

professional publications at the state, regional, and national levels; and 4) The Pioneer Valley 

Chinese Immersion Charter School will serve as a model site where those contemplating a 

similar program can come to observe and consult with program staff. 

Pioneer Chinese Initiative, Page 23 
PART C: PROJECT PERSONNEL 

The planners of this project have made every effort to identify the strongest possible experts and 

partners in the area and in the nation to assure that the PVCICS K-12 immersion program meets 

its goals and objectives. 

Ms. Kathleen Wang, PVCICS' Principal, will act as the Project Director and will 

devote twenty-five percent of her time to the· project. Ms. Wang is a graduate of MIT and 

Stanford University with over 15 years of experience managing complex technical projects 

involving multiple organizations. She was Director of Industrial Collaboration at MIT's 

Center for Innovation in Product Development (CIPD), responsible for developing a 

collaborative industry-university research consortium with 10 industry partners across the US. 

CIPD is a joint venture between the Sloan School of Management and the School of 

Engineering that received a start-up 5-year multi-million dollar grant from the National 

Science Foundation. She has spent the last six years promoting early inunersion locally and 

was a member of the statewide Massachusetts Initiative for International Education. She is a 

co-founder ofPVCICS. Ms. Wang will be responsible for overall' coordination of the program 

development, implementation, and evaluation activities as described in the project narrative. 

She will also be the principal interface between PVCICS and the project partners--CASLS, 

the UMassl Amherst, the UMass/Boston, and the Hadley Public School District. 

Ms. Zaiyun Lu and Ms. Hsuan-chun Hsu, Lead Chinese Immersion Teachers, will assist 

with project planning, development of the Chinese Language and Culture Curriculum 

Framework, instructional materials identification and development, benchmarks, assessments, 

and development of immersion instructional units and materials. Ms. Lu has a Masters of Arts 

degree in Curriculum and Instruction from the South Dakota Wesleyan University and a 

Pioneer Chinese Initiative, Page 24 
Bachelors ofArts degree in English and Chinese·Literature from the.Anhui Science and 

Technology University. Ms. Hsu has a Masters of Arts degree in Special Education from the 

University of Virginia and a Bachelors ofArts degree in Education, Special Education and 

Learning Disabilities from the National Taipei Teachers College. 

Prof. Zhongwei Shen, Associate Professor of Chinese and Director, Asian Languages 

and Literatures at the University ofMassachusettslAmherst, will provide professional expertise 

in linguistics and Chinese language teacher certification. Additionally, Prof. Shen will work with 

PVCICS to develop opportunities for teachers working on a Master of Arts in Teaching Chinese 

at the University of Massachusetts/Amherst to observe and train at PVCICS. His areas of 

research are Chinese Linguistics, Dialectology, Chinese Writing System, and Phonology. He has 

a PhD in Linguistics from the University of California/Berkeley. 

Dr. Wanli Hu, Director of The China Program Center at the University of 

Massachusetts/Boston and Director ofthe Confucius Institute there, brings the resources of the 

Mandarin Language Curriculum Resource Center to the project, which will.provide much needed 

training for teachers of Mandarin. Since 2001, Dr. Hu has initiated and implemented eleven New 

England Chinese Language Teachers Network Conferences and four New England World 

LanguageDepartrnent Chair seminars with a focus on promoting Chinese language instruction. 

The China Center Program also includes a summer camp for secondary students learning 

Chinese, and an annual high school student Chinese language speech contest. Additionally, Dr. 

Wanli Hu will work with PVCICS to develop opportunities for teachers working on a Master of 

Arts in Teaching Chinese at the University ofMassachusettslBoston to observe and train at 

PVCICS. 

Project Advisory Committee Members: 

Pioneer Chinese [nitiative, Page 25 
Dr. Kathleen M. Riordan is the former foreign languages director for the Springfield 

School District and former President ofthe American Council on the Teaching of Foreign 

Languages (ACTFL). She is credited by many in the foreign language community with having 

the foresight to seek funding from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation to launch Chinese in the 

Springfield high schools in the 1980s, well before most public school districts. Springfield's 

public high schools were identified by the Asia Society as one of three national models in 2006. 

Dr. Chih-Wen Su, has been a teacher and educator for more than 30 years. She is the 

former President of the Chinese Language Association for Secondary-Elementary Schools 

(CLASS), an AP Chinese Task Force committee member 2004-2005, and lead organizer for the 

first U.S.lChina Conference for Teaching Chinese as Second Language in Beijing, China, 2005. 

Dr. Yu-Lan Lin, has been a teacher and administrator for the Boston Public Schools for 

the past 28 years. Currently, she is the Program Director of the World Languages Program of the 

Boston Public Schools. She received her B.A. in Asian Languages and Cultures from National 

Cheng Chi University in Taiwan, her M.Ed_ in Bilingual/Multicultural Studies from Boston State 

College, and her Ed.D. in Reading and Language Development from Boston University. Dr. Lin 

is currently the Executive Director ofthe Chinese Language Association of SecondaryElementary Schools (CLASS) ;lnd serves on the Board ofDirectors for the American CQuncil on 

the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). 

Professor Ranjanaa Devi, is Director of the Asian Arts and Culture Program, 

UMassl Amherst. As the Founding Director of the Asian Arts and Culture Program, Professor 

Devi brings the unique artistic and educational resources of her program. These include 

performances at UMass by professional artists, artist-residencies and workshops in schools for 

children (grades K-12). On-line study guides, curriculum and informational resources are 

provided for teachers to help prepare students for the performances. Also, listed are methods for 

Pioneer Chinese Initiative, Page 26 
tying curriculum to integrating the history, language and culture with art genres into classroom 

lesson plans. 

Mr. Chung Liu, Senior Technical Manager of the Massachusetts Municipal Electric 

. Company, is Chairperson of the Chicopee Cultural Council and Principal of the Springfield 

Chinese Language School. He is also Secretary ofthe New England Association of Chinese 

Schools, a forum for Chinese heritage language schools to share their common interests, 

exchange ideas, and assist school activities. 

, Mr. Robert Chung, Software consultant, is the Principal of the Amherst Chinese School, 

one of the oldest Chinese heritage language schools in the area. Mr. Chung previously taught 

elementary school in Taiwan. He is also an organizing chairperson of the Pioneer Valley 

Chinese-American Association, a local organization focused on Chinese cultural events. 

Mr. Greg Duncan, Independent Evaluator, has extensive experience in second language 

education program evaluation. He has provided technical assistance to programs serving 

language minority students and frequently provides consulting services regarding program 

planning and evaluation to school districts and state departments of education nationwide. He 

will design, conduct, and annually report findings for the independent evaluation of this project. 

PART D: MANAGEMENT PLAN 

PVCICS will be the fiscal agent for this project. There are three individuals respohsible 

for managing this project. PVCIC)'s Principal, Kathleen Wang, will serve as the Project 

Director. She will oversee financial management, project development, implementation, and 

evaluation activities. She will convene and facilitate the Advisory Committee; and the Design 

Team. She will lead recruitment activities and work with the outside evaluator Greg Duncan fora 

full and robust project evaluation. 

Pioneer Chinese Initiative, Page 27 
PVCICS's Lead Chinese Immersion Teacher, ZaiyunLu, willserve as the Chinese 

Program Coordinator. and assist the Project Director in the design and management of this 

project and implementation of the full program. She will lead professional development of 

teachers, outreach activities, and development of the K-:-12 Chinese Language and Culture 

Curriculum Framework and instructional design components. She will work with the Oregon 

Flagship Collaborative, UMass and CLASS in support of project activities. 

The Project Director and Chinese Program Coordinator are located at PVCICS's facility 

and will schedule frequent meetings to ensure the project objectives are achieved on time and 

within budget. 

The Outside Evaluator, Greg Duncan, will be responsible for the independent evaluation 

of the project and will assist PVCICS staff in interpreting the results of yearly evaluations and 

student performance data to inform teaching and learning at the school. 

The chart below delineates timelines and milestones for accomplishing the project tasks: 

Activity 

A. Leading work of the Advisory Committee: 

L Convening meetings 

2. Reporting/leading discussions of program 

and project 

3. Analysis ofstudent performance datal 

making recommendations for programmatic 

adjustments 

B. Implementation of Student Assessment 

Plan- see Project Evaluation Plan for Details 

and Timelines 

- .-.-.--------~,

Personls 

Res'ponsible 

.-­ .._. Pro~ect Director 

(PO 

Chi 

)-Lead 

nese Program 

Coordinator (CPC)­

Sup port 

-------~

Begin 

·~-----7----

Fall 2008­

monthly 

End 

_._._--­

On-going 

PD- Lead 

CPC-Support 

Ouncan-Support 

Fall 2008 On-going 

Pioneer Chinese Initiative, Page 28 
-­ ~--

Staff-Support 

-~~--.~--

C. Recruitment and orientation ofnew staff PD- Lead Fall 2008 On-going 

(teachers, coordinators) CPC-Support 

-­ ~~~~--~. 

-~-~----,--~--~--~--

D. Study and Research for Program Design --

CPClDesign Team- Fall 2008 --­

On-going 

1. Curriculum Mapping Lead 

2. Standards Based Content Based Instruction PD~Support 

3. Explicit Instruction Staff-Support 

4. Experiential Learning 

5. Integrated Performance 

Assessments/Formative Assessments 

1--------­ ---­--~------------- '----~-----

E. Development ofChinese Language and CPC/Design Team- Fall 2008 Fall 2009, 

Culture Curriculum Framework Lead and OnPD-Support gomg 

Oregon Flagship 

Collaborative (OFC) 

- support 

CLASS - Support 

UMASS - Support 

I-----------~-----

F. Instructional Materials: CPC-Lead --1------­

Fall 2008 On-going 

Identification, Adaptation, Creation, and OFC Database ­

Sharing Support 

Design TeamSupport 

Staff-Support 

Advisory CommitteeG. Professional Development: 

Support 

--rCPC- Lead Fall 2008 ---­

On-going 

Continuing Peer Coaching and Mentoring PD- Support 

Pioneer Chinese Initiative, Page 29 
Program 

H. Professional Development; 

Design and Implementation of PD Plan to 

Support and Improve K -12 Chinese Program 

PD- Lead 

CPC- Support 

OFC - Support 

UMass- Support 

CLASS - support 

Fa112008 On-going 

LProfessional Development: 

Design and Implementation of Opportunities 

for Pre-service Chinese Teachers at UMassto 

Observe and Practice Teaching at PVCICS 

UMass- Lead 

PD- Support 

CPC- Support 

Staff- Support 

Fall 2008 Design: 

Fall 2009 

Implement 

ation: 

ongomg 

1. Evaluation of Project: 

(See Project Evaluation Plan for Details) 

Duncan- Lead 

PD- Support 

CPC- Support 

Spring 

2009 

Fall 2013 

K. Dissemination of Results of Project: 

l. Presentations at State and National 

Conferences 

2. Submit Publications to State and National 

Professional Organizations 

PD~ Lead 

CPC- Support . 

Advisory Comm.­

Support 

Staff-Support 

Fall 2009 Yearly! 

Fall 2013 

Pioneer Chinese Initiative, Page 30 
E. Project Evaluation 

Outcome Data to Collect Evaluation Criteria Persons 

Resoonsibl 

1.1.1 Immersion Assessment data: 1. At least 90% of students in the immersion ·PD-Lead. 

students will reach ·Fa1l2008- establish baseline pathway will demonstrate Intermediate Low or CPC-Support 

Intennediate Low/Mid -Spring 2009-2012 students take above proficiency on the STAMP at the end of Staff-Support 

by grade 6. NOELLA to establish progress Grade 6. I 

1.2.1 Partial immersion toward proficiency targets. 2. At least 90% of students in the partial 

students will reach • Spring 2013 First group of immersion pathway will demonstrate I 

I 

Intermediate Low by students complete 6th grade and Intennediate Low or above on the STAMP at the 

grade 9: take STAMP for final project end of grade 9. 

I evaluation. 

2.1.1 The program will 

have and follow a "'0 

o· 

~ standards-based, 

n 

;:r 

~. ! content-based (1) 

S"' 

3-: Icurriculum. !e­

} 

? 

1. K -12 Chinese Language and 

Culture Curriculum Framework 

2. Classroom observations 

3. Samples of instructional 

materials used in the classroom 

I 1. All teachers in the program will use the K·12 

Chinese Language and Culture Curr.Framework. 

2. Classroom observations will show the 

curriculum used is standards-based, contentbased. 

3. All instructional materials will be standards 

Duncan-Lead 


PD- Support 


CPC- Support 


Staff-Support 


w 
E. Project Evaluation 

Outcome Data to Collect Evaluation Criteria . Persons 

ResDonsibl 

and content based. 

2.1.2 The program will 

include explicit 

language instruction. 

I 

2.1.3 The program will 

involve students in 

experiential learning. 

'1:1 

o· 

~ 2.2.1/2.2.2 Time in 

n 


S­


.~ Chinese: K-l=1575

[ min. a week; 2-5=1162 

l 

~: 

i min. a week; 6-8== 582 

w 

N 

1. K -12 Chinese Language and 

Culture Curriculum Framework 

2. Classroom observations 

2. Sample lesson plans 

11. K-12 Chinese Language and 

Culture Curriculum Framework 

I 2. Examples of experiential I 

learning. 

1. The Curriculum Framework will include Duncan-Lead 

. explicit language instruction. PD- Support 

2. Classroom observations will find explicit CPC- Support 

language instruction. Staff-Support 

13. Lesson plans will show explicit language 

Iinstruction. 

i I 

I 1. The Curriculum Framework will include I Duncan-Lead 

I 

experiential learning. 

I 

I PD- Support 

2. Student use what they are learning in CPC- Support 

I experiential activities. I Staff-Support 

1. School schedule will substantiate the required 

minutes per week in each grade. 

1. School schedule 

I '. 

I 

Duncan-Lead i 

PD- Support 

I 

i CPC- Support 

Staff-Support 
E. Project Evaluation 

Outcome Data to Collect Evaluation Criteria Persons 

ResDonsibl 

min. week I

! 

2.3.1 Teachers use 

formative assessments 

throughout the year. 

2.3.2 All students will ' NOELLA or STAMP or other ! 1. There is data from the NOELLA or STAMP or Duncan- Lead 

I . take at least one appropriate assessment data ' other appropriate assessment for every student in PD- Support 

summative assessment every year. CPC- Support 

each year. 

. I 

2.3.3 All students will Student LinguaFolio portfolios. I 1. There is confirmation of every student's Online Duncan- Lead 

! 

have an Online LinguaFolio. PD- Support 

! 

." LinguaFolio portfolio. CPC- Support ~. 

SJ; 

('J 12.4.4 Program materials Samples of program materials I All materials examined will support the Duncan- Lead 

::r 

~. 

'<1>

- I will support the program's goals and objectives. ' PD- Support 

;:l 

~: Iprogram's goals and CPC- Support 

:<1' 

~<1> 

." 

~ w 

I 

IObjectives"_ 

I 

-.---~-. -, -

w 

1. Sample assessments. 

, 2. Frequency of formative 

I assessments in classes. 

All teachers will use formative assessments on at 

least a weekly basis. 

Duncan- Lead 

. CPC- Support 

Staff- Support 
I 

E. Project Evaluation 

Outcome Data to Collect Evaluation Criteria Persons 

ResDonsibl 

3 . 1.1 Pro gram staff will 

I participate in 

professional 

I development activities. . 

3.1.2 Pre-service 

teachers will have Prof. 

Develop. opportunities 

at PVCICS 

4.1.1 The project will 

establish partnerships 

'"0 and collaborations.

o· 

~ (1)

,.., 4.2.114.2.2 The project n

::r 

s· 

(1) will involve parents, (1) '" 

5"' :::;.' business, industry, e' 

.~. 

<! 

'"0 community in the 

w 

oj::. 

1. Number of professional 

development activities. 

2. Number of staff participating. 

1. Staff members will participate in no fewer than 

three professional development activities in 

each year. 

I! Observations by pre-service 

teachers. 2. Mentorships, 

2) Practice Teaching episodes. 

1) There will be 15 or more observations per yr. 

2) There will be 5 or more mentorships per yr. 

I 

I 3) There will be at least 2 practice teachers per yr. 

Records of collaborative activities. I 1) No fewer than 2 other immersion schools. 

2) No fewer than 3 universities. 

I 

1) List of Advisory Committee 

members. 

2) List of public 

interactions/presentations. 

1) One representative of each group on the 

Advisory Committee. 

2) One or more public presentations/community 

activities per year. -

Duncan- Lead 

PD- Lead 

CASLS-Supprt 

I 

CPC- Support 

Duncan-Lead 

CPC- Support 

. UMass-Support 

I 

I 

i 

! 

Duncan- Lead 

PD- Support 

CPC- Support 

Duncan- Lead 

PD- Support 

CPC- Support 

I 

, 

I 

I 
E. Project Evaluation 

Outcome Data to Collect Evaluation Criteria Persons 

ResDonsibl 

I program. 

i 

i 4.3.1 Students will 1) List of community events in 1) Two mor.e community events per year. Duncan- Lead 

I 

participate in which students participated. PD- Support 

I community events tied CPC- Support I 

to Chinese. 

5.1.1 Project will make 1) List of professional 1) No fewer than one presentation per year at a Duncan- Lead 

I professional presentations. state, regional or national conference. PD- Support 

. presentations. 

5.2.1 Project will submit 1) List of submissions or 1) No fewer than two articles submitted to state, I Duncan- Lead 

publications. publications. regional or national professional publications. PD- Support 

.... ~ ....-­ -----.-­.......~--. 

'" o· 

~ C1 

::r' s· 

<1> 

<1> '" 

[

C. 

~ 

~~. 

Il) 

(fQ'" 

<1> 

W 

VI