26, no. 3 (Spring 1995): Back Matter
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Back Matter Spring 1995
News Notes
Projects SPAN at the University of Northern Colorado
Project SPAN (Standard and Performance-Base Academic Networking) is a three-year project at the University of Northern Colorado, funded by the Fund for the Improvement of Postesecondary Education and directed by Francis A. (Jerry) Griffith, the universitie's assistance vice provost for assessment. Since January 1993, faculty members from five university departments—chemistry, history, mathematics, Spanish, and Speech communication—and their counterparts from Weld County school have district 6 and the university laboratory school have formed K-16 leadership teams under the auspices of the project. The teams' mission is to coauthor commencement standard for each academic major; defined performance indicators of standards; develop engaging and challenging performance tasks that serve as benchmark for student progress (by allowing faculty members to compare performance at given times—e.g., the end of junior year—against established standards for those academic levels); and design detailed scoring criteria and formats fo performance tasks.
The goal of the project is to support faculty leaders from the university, school district 6, and the lab school in evaluating university seniors' success in meeting commencement standards,in collaboration with other faculty members, students, and external parties, such as employers of program graduates; determining areas of student succes and areas where improvement is needed; evaluating each curriculum and redesigning curricula when appropriate from the top down, that is from the senior year as deeply into K-16 as necessary; and designing changes in teaching, curricula, and assessments.
For further information about project SPAN, write or call jerry Griffith, Assistant Vice Provost for Assessment, Office of the Provost, Univ. of Northern Colorado, Greeley 80639; 303 351–2823; fax 303 351–1880
Articulation Becomes the Subject of Discussion at DAAD Symposium
A symposium sponsored by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) on the Germanistik in the USA: Prospect for Change—Changing Prospects, was hosted by Vanderbilt University 13–16 Ocotber 1994. The conference organizer, John A. McCarthy and Richard A. Zipser, invited thirty colleagues from large and small institution, both public and private, and from diverse regions of the Unite States to debate the perceived crisis in Germanics. A broad mix of scholars, colleagues in mid-career, and relative newcomers to the field, along with graduate student fom Vanderbilt University, participated in discussions. Colleagues involved in second language acquistion and lower-division courses met with colleagues teaching upper-division courses and in graduate programs. Participants agreed that it is crucial for the two groups to coordinate their efforts.
The purposes of the symposium were to examine the sources of the crisis in the profession, to consider solution for them, and to recommend an action agenda for the profession to ensure its vitality in the twenty-first century. An action agenda was purposed to serve as a focus for future discussions and endeavors. Among the recommendation made at the conference, the following reflect the group's recognition of the importance of articulation:
- Broaden the potential student population that German studies nigth serve by recognizing that the field's content pertains to all disciplines.
- Explore the historical of German studies and define an appropriate position for the field in the contemporary context of public school education in the United States.
- Offer programs in German studies that recornize and use to greatest graduate students' highly varied undergraduate majors.
- Clarify the relation (i.e., sequence , hierarchy of access) betweem instructional content (i.e., culture studies) and the knowledge instruction and instruction in content (e.g., literature, culture, linguistic).
- Coordinate lower-and upper-division classes in the undergraduate curriculum.
- Offer support services and outreach from higher education to the schools.
- Create articulated sequence of instruction for language throughout K-16 education.
- Develop a professional culture that focuses on, among other concerns, the welfare of all members of the profession, regardless of education level and academic specialization.
Richard Zipser and John McCarthy have organized two forums on articulation for the meeting of the American Association of Teacher of German (AATG), to be held 4–7 August 1995 at Stanford University. Smaller meetings around the United States and planned so that colleagues from all levels, K through postgraduate, may debate the issues and the recommendation developed at the symposium. A summary of the symposium and complete list of the issues and recommendations was published in the winter 1995 AATG newletter. For copies, please write AATG , 112 Haddontowne Ct., Suite 104, Cherry Hill, NJ 08034.
© 1995 by the Association of Departments of Foreign Languages. All Rights Reserved.
ADFL Bulletin 26, no. 3 (Spring 1995): Back Matter |
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