District Polls Parents on Future of Foreign Language Program

The Scotch Plains-Fanwood School District is seeking parents' input on how to improve its world language program.

The district has issued an online survey to parents to poll their thoughts on the current state of the program and the direction they think it should head in the future. One of the primary goals of the survey, which is available via a link on the district's Web site, is to identify which non-European language parents desire to be added to the district's curriculum.

The district approved the move to begin a non-European language program last spring as part of its five-year strategic plan. It is now spending this year gathering feedback about which language to choose. 

Options on the survey include Mandarin, Japanese, Hindi and Arabic.

"I went through the survey and found it very user-friendly," Board of Education Member Rob O'Connor said at the Jan. 28 meeting. "It's easy to go through and there's a nice area at the end to add comments."

The survey goes beyond just polling parents' preferences. It also seeks to gain insight into children's current foreign language backgrounds, including whether a second language is spoken at home and whether students have been studying other languages outside of school.

The district's world languages supervisor, Linda Materna, noted at the PTA-Board of Education annual round table meeting on Jan. 11 that gathering information like this will help her department further understand the nature of students' foreign language needs.

Materna traveled to China with other educators last summer as part of a special program sponsored by the Hanban/Confucius Institute. There she got a first-hand look at the Chinese educational system and made contacts with instructors that will prove useful should the district choose Mandarin as its non-European language. The trip was at no cost to the district and wasn't intended to imply that the district will choose Mandarin.

Superintendent Dr. Margaret Hayes said at the forum that the district is looking very closely at how to integrate a non-European language. The district would likely offer it at the high school level, she said, and may have the option of sharing teachers with other districts. Colleges like Rutgers University are also training teachers.

Feedback from the survey is intended to help guide implementation.

Scotch Plains-Fanwood PTA member Rona Goldberg noted at the Board of Education's recent meeting that she was very pleasantly surprised with the nature of the survey.

"I hope you get the town's response, and that ultimately some students get language courses that the community and parents want for them," she said.