While Oregon rearranges its state educational bureaucracies and gives them more power, a few other states are moving ahead with real educational reform. Like Utah (here), Delaware is now planning to expand foreign language immersion programs. From the CNN article “The growing alternative to English-only education” (here):
..... Delaware recently partnered with Utah to build a similar immersion instruction program in their state. Dr. Gregory Fulkerson with Delaware’s Department of Education said they hope to have five programs implemented next year and are using Utah’s model as an example of how to structure a state led immersion initiative.
Like Utah, Fulkerson said, Delaware has an economic incentive to create dual language programs. Many of the country’s Fortune 500 companies are incorporated in Wilmington,Delaware. Fulkerson said when one large insurance company in Wilmington decided to expand in Brussels instead of Delaware, state leaders were left asking, “why?”
The reason the company gave: “The average person in Brussels speaks three languages,” Fulkerson said, “and the average person in Wilmington, Delaware, speaks one.”
“The average person in Brussels speaks three languages, and the average person in Wilmington, Delaware, speaks one.”
“Language learning is not just about a college prerequisite skills, it’s about real world skills, language learning is about jobs,” Fulkerson said. “So we have to do a much better job to create advanced language skills that will keep jobs in Delaware or create jobs here.”
Fulkerson also noted that while language fluency is important in business deals, it’s also the softer side of cultural competency that comes with understanding another language that businesses look for in an employee.
“What businesses really want from the people they hire is not only advanced language but an ability to communicate culturally - being appreciative of how to communicate with people of other cultures,” he said.....
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