Professional Development for Language Teachers Implementing the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Languages Other

1997 Implementing the TEKS for LOTE i Preface In January of 1995, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) applied for and received funds from the United States Department of EducationÕs Office for Educational Research and Improvement (OERI). The funds, part of the Fund for the Improvement of Education Program (FIE), were for the development of the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Languages Other Than English (TEKS for LOTE) and related products, including Professional Development for Language Teachers: Implementing the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Languages Other Than English. TEA contracted with the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (SEDL) to implement the standards project known as Project ExCELL (Excellence and Challenge: Expectations for Language Learners). The Texas State Board of Education adopted the TEKS for LOTE in April 1997. In creating Professional Development for Language Teachers, Project ExCELL worked with a writing team, consultants, field reviewers, and advisory committees that included Texas classroom teachers of LOTE, district supervisors of LOTE, university foreign language professionals, business people, and representatives from the community. In addition to drawing on their own expertise, the writers relied on the TEKS for LOTE for direction and used the national standards for foreign language learning, professional development documents from other states, data collected from field review, and current research in the field of professional development. Writing team members consulted experts in the area of professional development and they met to debate, review, and revise their products until they were able to reach consensus on what the components of Professional Development for Language Teachers should look like. Professional Development for Language Teachers reflects high expectations for all teachers, applies to all languages, and takes into account the state and national student standards for the LOTE discipline. Professional Development for Language Teachers connects the TEKS for LOTE, as approved by the Texas State Board of Education, to language teachers already in service. The professional development materials will make it easier for teachers of LOTE to become familiar with the student standards and to revise and adapt their teaching approaches to help all students reach the high standards which the TEKS for LOTE outline. For Project ExCELL, the TEKS for LOTE and Professional Development for Language Teachers represent steps in a systemic change process. The project also has produced a curriculum framework and teacher education materials. A Texas Framework for Languages Other Than English facilitates the task of developing curricular material.