| NCLRC Arabic K-12 Bulletin - February 17, 2014 Ahlan ya colleagues, Welcome to the Arabic K-12 Bulletin, a biweekly resource for elementary, middle, 
| | Ahlan ya colleagues, Welcome to the Arabic K-12 Bulletin, a biweekly resource for elementary, middle, and high school Arabic teachers, administrators, and researchers. This edition of the Bulletin features six intensive summer study programs for high school students, with many full need-based scholarships available, as well as several other new opportunities for your students and yourselves--be sure to check the Grant Opportunities as well as the Professional Development sections. As always, if you would like to reach us please send a message to arabick12@gmail.com. Lucy Thiboutot, Editor |
▪ The Arabic K-12 Teachers Network consists of more than 1,000 educators, administrators, and researchers interested in the Arabic K-12 field in the U.S. It is a free membership provided by the National Capital Language Resource Center's Arabic K-12 Project.
▪ Recent issues of the Bulletin are archived here: http://bit.ly/10KRZi3 .
▪ All members are welcome to submit posts in English or Arabic and may do so by e-mailing their content to arabick12@gmail.com specifying their content for the listserv.
▪ This listserv is focused on elementary, middle, and high school Arabic teaching. Job openings at the university level can be found on the AATA's website .
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1. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES
2. NEW RESOURCES FOR YOUR STUDENTS AND CLASSROOM
3. GRANT OPPORTUNITIES AND JOB ANNOUNCEMENTS
4. NADA'S WEBSITES: "Quicklyst"
5. BELAL'S ACTIVITIES: "Pictionary"
6. MEOC BOOK RECOMMENDATION: "The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Arabia"
7. CURRENT RESEARCH: "Deciding Which Vocabulary Words to Teach and How to Teach Them"
8. FOCUS ON LEARNING: "Arabic STEM charter school planned for Milpitas"
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Workshops and Webinars Aldeen Foundation will be offering another six-week online course March 3-April 14, 2014: The 5 Cs in Action and Best Practices in the Arabic language classroom. All sessions are held in the Arabic language and no homework is required. Registration starts TOMORROW February 18, 2014 and closes on March 1, 2014. Space is limited to 40 teachers, so make sure to sign up when registration opens. The online course costs $75 per teacher, and $300 per school (up to six teachers). Learn more at http://bit.ly/1dCmu1l](http://bit.ly/1dCmu1l) and email Mrs. Thouraya Boubetra with any questions at aldeenarabiconlineeducation@aldeenfoundation.org The 2013 ACTFL Convention in Orlando is now available online. You can now purchase and view some of the same great sessions presented at the 2013 Convention for $129. Each learning session is one hour in length and can be watched multiple times until June 30, 2014. Earn up to 12 hours of continuing education credits when you view all of the material online. That includes the keynote address by Tony Wagner, one of ACTFL's Plenary sessions and a selection of 10 other sessions. Before you make your purchase, you may view short video clips of each presentation and read bios of each speaker. Once you purchase, you can view the sessions as many times as you would like. To view the sessions: http://bit.ly/1cOnUlX Where There Be Dragons is offering a 2-week travel seminar for teachers of Arabic, and/or Cultural & Religious studies from March 15-30, 2014 entitled "Jordan: Cultural Survival & Modernity." Teachers meet with leaders of organizations, journalists, and local experts on issues of land/water rights, gender, and conflict resolution, while using their Arabic in dynamic settings. All courses include service, language intensives, leadership development and global studies. Visit the website: www.wheretherebedragons.com or call: 800-982-9203 to learn more about scholarships for teachers and educator programs. Professional Conferences The 61st annual NECTFL (Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) will take place March 27-29, 2014 in Boston, MA at the Marriott Copley Place Hotel. This year's theme is Sustaining Communities through World Languages. This conference offers outstanding professional development opportunities and the ability to network with other teachers of foreign languages, and is sure to include special panels for Arabic teachers. Read more here: http://bit.ly/1e7ZtoM The Second International Conference on Heritage/Community Languages will take place March 7-8, 2014 at Covel Commons at UCLA. The early registration deadline has passed. Contact: Gerda Lobo gerdalobo@gmail.com or Claire Chik
chik@international.ucla.edu An important national policy research conference on "Internationalization of Education in the 21st Century: The Future of International and Foreign Language Studies" will take April 11-13, 2014, at the College of William & Mary. Join leaders in academia, K-12 education, business, government, and the NGO sectors for timely research and discussion of national human resource needs and strategies for enabling U.S. educational institutions to address the broad national policy goals to ensure a globally competent citizenry and workforce; strengthen the U.S. ability to solve global problems; and produce international experts and knowledge for national needs. Register by March 15, 2014. To learn more: http://bit.ly/1jtZP8t The 17th annual National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages (NCOLCTL) conference will take place at the Westin Hotel & Resort in Chicago Northwest, IL from April 24-27, 2014 (with pre-conference workshops scheduled for April 24, 2014). This year's theme is "Collaboration and Internationalization: Enhancing and Sustaining Quality Outcomes for LCTLs". This conference brings together professionals from academia, government, private sector, and students in the field of Less Commonly Taught Languages (LCTLs). To learn more and register for the conference: http://bit.ly/1gavjhU Call For Proposals and Papers The Foreign Language Association of Virginia provides an opportunity to share innovative teaching, technology, research and student success strategies. Send in your proposal by April 18, 2014. The Conference Committee invites proposals for active and engaging presentations on topics related, but not limited to: Supporting beginning teachers; Promoting active use of the target language; Making the most of classroom time; Supporting student learning; Active and engaging instructional strategies; Innovative instructional methodology; Innovative assessment strategies; Unique uses of technology; Technology strategies for all students including those with disabilities. To learn more and submit a proposal: http://bit.ly/1kk31CJ |
On Tuesday, March 11, 2014 at 9am CST/10am EST (5pm Baghdad time) the University of Iowa will link up with the University of Baghdad to present Book Wings, a live bilingual (Arabic/English) collaborative theatre project that uses the latest new media technologies to bring together actors, writers, directors, translators, and stage spaces 6,500 miles apart to produce one unified theatre experience, presenting 6 newly commissioned plays. The performance will be live-streamed (free and viewable by anyone with an internet connection), with a 20 minute talk-back session featuring participating playwrights, directors, and actors, immediately following the performance. Internet viewers are invited to Tweet comments and questions for the live talk-back using the hashtag #bookw. To view the live stream on March 11: http://bit.ly/1gKFVWm Concordia Language Villages' Al-Waha Arabic Village provides two-week and four-week residential immersion programs in Bemidji, MN. The two-week programs are open to students age 8-18, running from July 21- August 2 and from August 4-16, 2014. The four-week program (open to high school students and offering high school credit) runs from July 21- August 16. QFI funding will provide 35 need-based student scholarships. Deadline for Applications: February 28, 2014. For more information and the scholarship application, please visit: http://bit.ly/1cOiQ14 Middlebury-Monterey Language Academy provides a full-immersion, pre-college summer language program for middle and high school students from June 22- July 17, 2014. Qatar Foundation International (QFI) has partnered with MMLA to offer full need-based scholarships with travel assistance for 20 students studying Arabic. The application deadline is April 30. To learn more: http://bit.ly/MqKUB5 California State University provides a seven-week residential or day immersion program for high school students in San Bernardino, CA from June 18- August 7, 2014. This program awards college credit to students, and students have the opportunity to continue study throughout the year for college credit. QFI funding will provide 15 student scholarships. Rolling admission, but the earlier the application the more likely to receive financial support. For more information, please visit: http://bit.ly/NWN8JC Choate Rosemary Hall, a private boarding school in Wallingford, Connecticut, is offering students in grades 9-11 the opportunity to immerse themselves in the Arabic language and culture in Jordan. Participants spend 4 weeks in Amman from June 16-July 16. The program offers Modern Standard Arabic (at a level appropriate to proficiency) and intensive Jordanian colloquial classes. Students also explore Jordanian History and learn about traditional Islamic arts. Participants in the program will stay in pairs with Jordanian families, helping them to improve their spoken Arabic and discover Jordanian social customs and traditions. For more information: http://bit.ly/1gSeOYt To apply: http://bit.ly/1hos63t The University of North Georgia (UNG) will host the fourth summer language academy for high school rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors in June and July 2014. The Federal Service Language Academy (FSLA) is a three-week residential program for students who are interested in an immersive intensive language experience, fitness, and exploring international-related careers with the federal government. During the two three-week sessions, students will be immersed in intensive language instruction in First-Year Arabic from highly qualified teachers, participate in a daily fitness program, receive career counseling from federal agency representatives (CIA, DEA, FBI, State Department, Homeland Security, the Peace Corps and US Armed Forces), and possibly receive high school credit for successful completion of the academy. For more information: www.ung.edu/fsla Where There Be Dragons offers authentic, small-group, cultural and language immersion programs in Jordan and Morocco every summer as well as semesters for Gap Year students. All include service, local mentorship, language intensives, trekking, leadership development and global studies. Our summer programs are for ages 14+. Semesters are tailored for Gap Year & College-age students. Visit the website: www.wheretherebedragons.com or call: 800-982-9203 to learn more about scholarships and programs. You may be interested in a mobile-ready, interactive network, game-like learning resource for Arabic students called "Falooka." Falooka can be used in the classroom, or purchased for a library or language lab. It encourages Arabic language students to jump in by selecting one of nine "3-Month Challenge programs." Students gain "Ookapoints" as they teach lower level students (for money or for free); post in the News Feed on Middle Eastern culture; and form "Ookafriendships" with other Arabic language students and native instructors. Falooka is both in Modern Standard Arabic and the Egyptian dialect. It includes over 700 web pages of learning materials plus 7,000 audio recordings by native Egyptians, 80 podcasts, and over 50 videos. To learn more, visit their website: http://falooka.com/ The Lingaga: Oxford Peace Project has free video conferencing and networking for language learners and speakers, including Arabic. On the free site, teachers and students may meet native speakers, make contacts in other countries, open their own and enter virtual classrooms, post videos on their country, discuss literature and culture, and swap language learning. With students and teachers in over 25 countries registering, it is a terrific place to actually speak the language and put into practice your learning. www.lingaga.com You may be interested in this simple Arabic typing tutor to help your students learn to type in Arabic: http://www.studyarabic.com/arabic-typing-tutor The Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL) now offers the Computerized Oral Proficiency Instrument (COPI), a computer-based, semi-adaptive test of Modern Standard Arabic or Spanish oral proficiency intended for use with native-English-speaking students in later years of high school, college students, and professionals. It provides language educators with a computerized, time-efficient assessment of their students' oral language proficiency in Arabic or Spanish. Performance on the COPI is rated according to the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines. For more information: http://bit.ly/Iw45aE The Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL) has produced an Arabic Oral Proficiency Guide for Students. This free online tutorial helps high school and university-level students of Arabic understand and improve their oral proficiency. It teaches students how oral proficiency is rated according to the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines so that they can self-assess and set language learning goals. The tutorial features authentic examples of students speaking Arabic at different levels, tips and resources to improve oral proficiency, and student descriptions of their experiences being assessed and then using their Arabic to communicate abroad. View the site at http://www.cal.org/aop/index.php The Qatar Foundation International (QFI) is launching a new website for Arabic K-12 teachers Al-Masdar (almasdar.oercommons.org). Al-Masdar provides a platform for you to discover free resources through search strategies, to author or upload your own resources, to review resources, join groups and conversations, and collaborate with others. The site is intended to be a hub - the source - for language teaching materials, opportunities, news and events relevant to Arabic instructors. You are invited to explore it and offer your feedback by completing this survey: http://bit.ly/1gvdkWS Your advanced students may enjoy this new simplified version of Lebanese author Hoda Barakat's novel, Sayyidi wa Habibi, which comes with a set of pedagogical activities and a companion website: http://bit.ly/16vBpEc Al-Jazeera news is currently developing a special news site for Arabic language learners. Although some of the features are still in progress, it may be worth keeping an eye on as a resource for your classes: http://learning.aljazeera.net/arabic The National Middle East Language Resource Center (NMELRC), in cooperation with Qatar Foundation International and Brigham Young University Independent Study, is offering a hybrid online course for high school students. The high school implementation of Arabic Without Walls, winner of the 2010 Distance Education Course Award, covers the basics of both spoken and written Arabic and enables students to acquire real-world communication skills. This process starts with students attending a one-day course in their region and continues as they work online with a tutor and a cohort of students who form a tight-knit learning community. Students who have done so have gone on to win NSLI-Youth Scholarships to study in the Arab world. For more information on registration, cost and credit please visit: http://bit.ly/1bfmfcG . The Institute for Middle East Studies (IMES) Title VI Outreach Program at The George Washington University (Washington, DC) maintains a film and book library and Skype-a-Scholar program that is free and available to area educators. You can view a list of all of the library resources and find out more about the films using our new Film Guide which contains synopses of the films and classroom usage ideas for educators. The Skype-A-Scholar program brings university experts to your classroom through Skype, to converse with students for an in-depth, innovative learning experience. Contact imesnrc@gwu.edu for more information on these programs. American Councils for International Education coordinates the U.S. Department of State's FLEX, YES, and A-SMYLE programs, where students from the Middle East and other areas of the world have competed against their peers and earned a scholarship to come to the U.S. for a full academic year. The students live with an American host family, attend school and become a part of the family. Anyone interested in hosting an exchange student for a period of two months to a full academic year, and the ability to provide a safe, supportive, English-speaking environment is welcome to contact the programs for more information. For more information: http://inbound.americancouncils.org . The Peace Corps offers the World Wise Schools website, with cross-cultural learning resources including lesson plans, videos, publications, an online game, and more. Take advantage of these free resources to develop your students' global competencies and prepare them to be engaged, 21st century global citizens. Connecting With Teachers Connect with hundreds of Arabic teachers in America and from around the world on the Teachers of Arabic Language K-12 (TALK12) page on Facebook. Teachers can chat, swap ideas, and give each other advice: http://www.talk12.org . |
Grant Opportunities The Arab Academy Scholarship will be offered for three ACTFL members in 2014. The scholarship includes three months of access to the online Arabic program in addition to one weekly one-on-one speaking class. In addition, Arab Academy offers onsite scholarships for two ACTFL members for 8-week sessions at its Arabic language center in Cairo, Egypt. Deadline March 31, 2014. Additional details can be obtained by contacting the educational programs coordinator, Hanan Dawah, at info@arabacademy.org and http://www.arabacademy.com. ACTFL Members: If you have any questions about this scholarship, please contact Jaime Bernstein at 703-894-2900. Qatar Foundation International has announced Teacher Initiative Grants (maximum award: $1,000) to enhance Arabic programs and promote excellence in the classroom. Arabic teachers working in U.S. public or public charter schools may apply for funding to purchase books and materials; host cultural events or workshops; take students on field trips; or attend professional development conferences. Applications are due on the first of each month for awards to be announced by the end of that month, from Nov. 1 until April 1. To download the complete Request for Proposal, follow the link: http://bit.ly/17lD6I0 To apply, go through QFI's grants management portal: http://bit.ly/18XUpgj Job Openings Anne Arundel Community College is accepting applications for Teaching Fellows in an intensive summer STARTALK Arabic program entitled "Launch into Arabic Learning and Teaching 2014." The program will be held from June 9 - July 18, 2014. The Teaching Fellow component of the program is designed for high school and college instructors, graduate students and other degree-holding individuals who are interested in developing their Arabic teaching skills using ACTFL standards and STARTALK principles. The fellowship begins with a two-week intensive teacher training program in which Teaching Fellows will work with more highly experienced Arabic instructors to collaboratively design, develop and deliver an intensive Arabic student program under the leadership of the STARTALK Director. The STARTALK student program, in which the Fellows will complete teaching practicums, will begin at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD on June 23 - July 18, 2013. The grant-funded program provides stipends for the teaching fellowship. Minimum of a Bachelor's degree and advanced level of Arabic proficiency required. Candidates must be able to meet Department of Navy security requirements. Interested individuals should email a current resume or CV and a statement indicating why they would like to be considered for this opportunity to Janet M. Paulovich, Director English Language Learning and Adult Education at jmpaulovich@aacc.edu by Friday, February 28, 2014. For more information or for an application, please visit: http://bit.ly/1ceLEmt Northeast College Prep, in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, is opening Kindergarten-3rd grade in August (eventually growing to K-8th grade) and hiring founding teachers in all subjects, including Arabic. This diverse, International Baccalaureate school is committed to closing the achievement gap and will offer both Spanish and Arabic classes to all students. Minnesota teaching license or eligibility for one required. Visit careers at Northeast College Prep's website to view job descriptions and the application process: northeastcollegeprep.org. If you have any questions, contact Erika Sass at esass@northeastcollegeprep.org. The International High School of New Orleans is seeking an Arabic teacher to begin immediately and complete the 2013-2014 school year. The job description is to plan, organize, and implement an appropriate instructional program and assist the development office with planning and executing student recruitment related activities for the Arabic program, such as: open houses, feeder school visits, and community events. Eligibility for Louisana teaching certificate required. Competitive salary and reimbursement for relocation costs. Interested candidates should e-mail a cover letter and a resume to Nancy M. Ryan at nan.ryan@ihsnola.org with "Teacher: Your Name" in the subject line. E.L. Haynes Public Charter School is seeking a high school Arabic teacher for the 2014-2015 school year. The ideal candidate will have two or more years of teaching experience in an urban setting. To learn more: http://bit.ly/1grQXTE. The Dearborn Academy, a K-8 Charter School in Dearborn, MI, is seeking a certified Arabic Teacher. If no teaching certificate, an emergency certification may be possible. To learn more: http://bit.ly/1eXIUug |
Nada Shaath (Bell High School, CA) suggests: Quicklyst (http://www.quicklyst.com/) Take notes and save them to study from them anywhere. A great way to create and share study guides. Do you have a favorite website to share? Send us a link and a short description, and don't forget to include the name and location of your school! |
Belal Joundeya (Renaissance Academy, UT) suggests: Pictionary Write each of a set of vocabulary words on flashcards, and divide students into two teams. Have each team send a representative to select a flashcard and draw a pictorial representation of the chosen word on a large whiteboard in front of their team. Each team has a small whiteboard on which they write out the correct spelling of the vocab word that matches the picture. Whichever team has the correct spelling first wins the point. |
The Middle East Outreach Council (http://www.meoc.us) recommends the youth non-fiction book The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Arabia by Mary Beardwood. This detailed encyclopedia focuses on the geography, cultures, and, especially, the flora and fauna of the Arabian Peninsula. With many photographs, charts, maps, figures, asides, this exhaustive and beautifully illustrated text will answer every question you never knew that you had about Arabia on subjects from pearling to fossils, migratory birds to the many uses of the date palm. The sheer breadth of information will eliminate the narrow geographic and social stereotypes so many students have about the Middle East. |
Deciding Which Vocabulary Words to Teach and How to Teach Them
By Kim Marshall | Marshall Memo #523, February 10, 2014, http://www.marshallmemo.com In this article in The Reading Teacher, Michael Graves (University of Minnesota/ Minneapolis) and seven colleagues ask how educators should decide which vocabulary words to teach from a text. Making good decisions is even more important given the Common Core's emphasis on vocabulary. Based on a three-year research project, the authors created the SWIT process – Selecting Words for Instruction from Texts. It involves choosing and teaching four types of unfamiliar words:
- Essential words – These are important for understanding the text.
- Valuable words – These have broad, enduring utility for students' reading and writing – for example, for sixth graders, discord and inevitable.
- Accessible words – These are more common, higher frequency words that are not likely to be understood by students with limited vocabulary knowledge – for example, consider and recent.
- Imported words – These aren't in the actual text but will enhance a reader's understanding, appreciation, or learning – for example prejudice, gullible, democracy, environmentalism. How many words should students learn? The authors recommend teaching 20 words a week and trying to teach 500-600 by the end of each school year. Here are their suggestions: For a narrative text: (Island of the Blue Dolphins for 4th graders):
- Identify potentially Unfamiliar words. Then create a chart with all those words in the left-hand column (in the example given, there are 22: advice, ancestors, befall, calm, crawfish, faint, fiber, fortune, headland, kelp, leagues, lessened, omen, pause, pitch, planks, pursued, sandspit, seeping, serpent, skirted, and spouting)
- Label six more columns, three for type of word (Essential, Valuable, and Accessible) and three for type of instruction (Powerful Instruction, Brief Explanation, and Infer Meaning), and leave room at the bottom for Imported Words.
- Make a check-mark for each Unfamiliar word in the appropriate column: Essential, Valuable, or Accessible – for example, advice and ancestors are Essential, befall and calm are Valuable, pause and spouting are Accessible.
- Decide if there are Imported words that need to be added – in this text, determination was deemed an important addition to the lesson.
- Determine the optimal type of instruction for each word – for example, the teacher decides omen is best taught by Powerful Instruction, calm through a Brief Explanation, and faint through Infer Meaning.
- Implement vocabulary instruction. For example, for Powerful Instruction of the word determination, the teacher gives a clear definition, discusses the context sentences, asks questions that require deep thinking, and provides a vocabulary reference sheet. The procedure for an informational text is similar. The authors acknowledge that the SWIT process is time-consuming, but they argue that it's time well spent and after it's been done once, the chart and teaching strategies are money in the bank for future years and other teachers. "Words, Words Everywhere, But Which Ones Do We Teach?" by Michael Graves, James Baumann, Camille Blachowicz, Patrick Manyak, Ann Bates, Char Cieply, Jeni Davis, and Heather Von Gunten in The Reading Teacher, February 2014 (Vol. 67, #5, p. 333-346), http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/trtr.1228/abstract; Graves can be reached at mgraves@umn.edu. |
Arabic STEM charter school planned for Milpitas
By Aliyah Mohammed, Milpitas Post | mercurynews.com
Source: http://bit.ly/1frNPQZ Milpitas Unified School District's Board of Education heard comments from local community members about their thoughts and concerns regarding the creation of an Arabic Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathe-matics Charter School in Milpitas [California] at its Jan. 28 meeting. The district received a charter school application on Jan. 6 from the Arabic STEM Academy for a kindergarten- through 12th-grade school with an Arabic dual language emphasis, and held an initial public hearing for the community and board members. Once an application such as this one is submitted, the district has 60 to 90 days to respond to the petition, and a public hearing is part of the process, followed by a review of the proposal with interviews of the petitioners over subsequent weeks. The item will return to the school board on Feb. 25, said Matthew Duffy, assistant superintendent of education services, at the meeting. Members of the community who are requesting the school spoke during the public hearing, including Adolfoe Melara, who thanked the board for including them on the agenda. "Public education is to provide the best education for every child, taking in the different learning styles that we have, we have chosen to teach Arabic because it is one of the lingua francas of the world and just like many educators and visionaries saw the need and positive rationale for offering Spanish and other languages, Arabic is going to be necessary for the world that we are living in, in addition to STEM education." Maria Ali, an independent studies teacher, told the board this school could provide students with an education beyond what was taught in most districts. Staff members within the district voiced concerns with bringing a charter school to the area, including not having enough space to house it. Another staff member said she did not want to stretch district funds toward another school that would not fall entirely under its control. Milpitas High School Registrar Machelle Kessinger said, "as the registrar of MHS we have over 3,000 students and our schools are filled to the max, so my question is where will we put the charter school, we already have the Beryessa Chinese School that takes place on the weekends at the high school, I would consider an alternative to having an additional charter school similar to the Chinese school." Rancho math teacher Ken Chu told the board that he would "like to know more about the charter school, do they take some ADA money that would filter from us É do you still have power over the organization or are they on their own?" The group has not requested a facility, according to Duffy, and is just seeking charter approval. According to Melara, charter schools seem to have a bad reputation, partly because most people do not know how they are run. "A charter school is a publicly-funded school (directly-funded from the state and independently run under the authority of MUSD), created with the intention of offering innovative education programs that are more targeted to specific areas or students. É The intent can be to target communities where students may be low achieving or in need of added instructional services, bilingual services, it can be a number of reasons why there are charter schools, and they are meant to serve these students and get them to a higher academic level," Melara said. "For Arabic STEM Academy, our goal is to work with Milpitas Unified School District and create a needed program, an innovative program created to serve the children in the community. The Arabic is literally innovative, there are only a handful of private and charter schools that offer Arabic as a second language, like many other charter or district schools that are focusing on STEM, ultimately gearing students and allowing them to find their passion in those fields where American students at the college level do not represent themselves in high percentages, and to a large degree that is why our country has taken a focus on STEM education because we want to be competitive with the European and Asian countries when it comes to the work force." The timeline presented to the board is to review all sections of the petition from Jan. 23 to Feb. 2, led by David Montes de Oca, former director of Charter School Office for Oakland Unified School District, in conjunction with Duffy, with interviews of the petitioners the week of Feb. 10. The report will be compiled by the Feb. 25 school board meeting. |
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