09/11/2009

News / $12.4 Million Awarded to School Systems in 24 States, D.C. to Promote Instruction of Critical Foreign Languages

The U.S. Department of Education today announced the award of more than $12.4 million in Foreign Language Assistance Program grants to local and state school systems in 24 states and the District of Columbia, aimed at promoting the instruction of foreign languages critical to national security.

The funds will be used in elementary and secondary schools to establish or expand programs of study in one or more critical foreign languages, such as Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Russian and languages in the Indic, Iranian and Turkic language families.

"Communicating with our international neighbors not only promotes peaceful relations but also equips students for employment and to compete in the global marketplace," said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. "These grants will help strengthen both our national and economic security."

Of the $12.4 million, more than $3.1 million will be awarded to a dozen local education agencies working in partnership with higher education institutions. This first-year support for these five-year grants is aimed at helping students as they progress through elementary and secondary school and then to college to attain a superior level of proficiency in different languages.

Another $8.7 million will serve as the first year of three-year grants to local education agencies, while the remaining $500,532 will be used for the initial year of three-year grants to state departments of education in Nebraska, Virginia and West Virginia.

In evaluating applications, the U.S. Education Department's Office of English Language Acquisition considered whether the school systems showed the promise of continuing the programs beyond the grant period. Emphasis was also placed on projects that demonstrated approaches that could be duplicated by other local school systems.

http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2009/09/09112009.html

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