33, no. 1 (Fall 2001): 54-55 To the Editor Search

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COLLEGE in the Schools (CIS) is designed to connect high school language programs of all sizes in Minnesota with the resources of the state’s largest research university. The program differs from other models for teaching advanced high school students, which require that they leave their school grounds and travel to colleges or universities. By contrast, CIS courses are taught by high school teachers in their home districts. Under this arrangement, the university department supplies course curriculum and collaborates with teachers through a series of professional workshops, thereby assuring that students in different schools receive the same education as students at the university. Because CIS offers qualified students the option of taking the proficiency test that is the foreign language requirement for the College of Liberal Arts, intermediate foreign language instruction at the K-12 level is articulated seamlessly with advanced instruction for college undergraduates. There are other benefits as well for the students, high schools, and the university. Students avoid the inconvenience of commuting from their schools for advanced course work and pay a reduced tuition rate for college credits. Individuals who later choose to matriculate at the university will have completed their foreign language requirement and will have room in their schedules to elect other courses, including upper division foreign language offerings. Partner schools meanwhile retain high-achievement students and their state funding, which would otherwise be transferred from the local district to the university. For its part, the host university department can concentrate more funds and educational resources at the threshold to the foreign language major, where retention is crucial. Institutions developing similar programs should take into account the following administrative and educational considerations:

• Such partnerships rely on reciprocity between the university and high schools. Participating high school students become university students with IDs, transcripts, library access, and other campus privileges. Their teachers, who collectively have decades of instructional experience and have spent years building their programs, are recognized as adjunct faculty members at the university. Discussions with these professionals need to be an open dialogue that acknowledges and draws on their expertise. Although CIS is designed to bring new curricula to the schools, the teachers share materials and ideas with one another and the university department, and they show the department areas where K-16 articulation should be improved. The mutual support, the exchange of materials, and regular professional meetings benefit the teachers, especially those who are the sole instructor for that subject in their district.
• The program depends on a clear basis for articulation. For more than ten years, teachers participating in CIS have collaborated with the University of Minnesota to develop testing instruments and statewide foreign language standards. Their perspective is an essential piece in a system of articulation that involves college administrators, secondary principals, lawmakers, and the general public. Proficiency or achievement certification, degree credits, portfolio assessments linked to the National Standards, and other tangible outcomes encourage high standards on both sides of the partnership. Optimally, the program’s articulation principles should govern all languages at the postsecondary institution. Although faculty members at colleges and universities are accustomed to operating in terms of departmental identities, K–12 educators involved with CIS are more familiar with an orientation toward shared values in the discipline of foreign languages.
• The program must benefit students, teachers, school administrators, and postsecondary institutions alike and be structured to include multiple opportunities for substantial contact with the host department. The University of Minnesota’s German program, for example, currently includes two on-campus events each year so that students can visit university classes and facilities. Program developers are urged to incorporate capstone experiences, such as a graduation test, field day, or annual video competition because these events are highly successful and popular features of CIS. Students learn about computer resources for foreign language, hear about study abroad programs, meet university faculty members, and attend specially organized events.
• Partner institutions require adequate support to run the program. Teachers meet on campus twice each term and for a weeklong workshop each summer. Schools pay for substitute teachers when participants meet. The College of Continuing Education at the University of Minnesota handles admission, registration, billing, and publicity for CIS and other off-campus educational programs. The high school teachers select students to participate in CIS because they are best able to predict the success of these individuals in college-level study. In addition a faculty member from the university’s department receives a financial supplement for overseeing the program, and assistants (generally advanced graduate students who are familiar with the university curriculum) are paid for performing clerical duties, planning and managing of special events, and responding promptly to the needs of the high school teachers as they arise during the academic year.
• The curriculum should become a joint product of two educational systems, and experience has shown that high school students are indeed successful with the college-level curriculum itself. Daily, weekly, and yearly scheduling concerns are very different at a high school than at a university or college. Sponsoring departments need to develop long-range curricular planning cycles since high schools cannot change textbooks as often as university or college programs.

© 2001 by the Association of Departments of Foreign Languages. All Rights Reserved.

ADFL Bulletin 33, no. 1 (Fall 2001): 54-55

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