RSB/3/18
Sponsored by Jaya Shankar of West High School
This legislation was filed in the Education category
Presented as part of the YIG Volunteer 2024 conference
| 1 | BE IT ENACTED BY THE TENNESSEE YOUTH IN GOVERNMENT |
| 2 | |
| 3 | Section I: Terms in this act will be defined as follows: |
| 4 | a) Elementary schools: Tennessee schools that serve students from kindergarten to fifth grade |
| 5 | b) Second language: Non-English languages taught to Tennessee students |
| 6 | c) Tennessee World Language Standards: Statewide measurements for mastery of second |
| 7 | languages |
| 8 | d) TISA: Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement, the state education funding plan passed |
| 9 | in 2022 |
| 10 | e) Direct Funding: A category of funding under TISA for opportunities beyond basic classroom |
| 11 | instruction |
| 12 | f) TALK Program: Tennessee’s Alternate Languages for Kids Program, a three-year pilot |
| 13 | educational program established in this Act to implement secondary language education in |
| 14 | elementary schools |
| 15 | |
| 16 | Section II: A new committee on the Tennessee Board of Education will be created to oversee the |
| 17 | pilot TALK Program, which will introduce foreign language education in 25 elementary schools |
| 18 | starting in the 2025-2026 school year. |
| 19 | |
| 20 | Section III: This committee, referred to as the TALK Committee, will include at least four members |
| 21 | of the eleven-member Board of Education, who are empowered to work with teachers, districts, |
| 22 | LEAs, and other collaborators that they feel will aid the implementation of TALK. |
| 23 | |
| 24 | Section IV: The 25 schools which participate in TALK will be chosen from 25 Tennessee school |
| 25 | districts. |
| 26 | a) These districts will have the 25 highest percentages of third-graders who met or exceeded |
| 27 | expectations on the 2022-2023 ELA standardized tests. |
| 28 | b) One elementary school in each district will be offered the opportunity to participate in the TALK |
| 29 | Program. |
| 30 | c) To be eligible for TALK, the school must have no more than 660 students, and offer instruction |
| 31 | only up to fifth grade. |
| 32 | d) If a school declines to participate in the program, the TALK Committee will make the same offer |
| 33 | to a school from the district with the next-highest third-grade ELA scores. |
| 34 | |
| 35 | Section V: During the 2025-2026 school year, elementary schools participating in the TALK |
| 36 | Program will be required to enroll all incoming third-graders in either an introductory Spanish or |
| 37 | |
| 38 | a) The schools will determine how best to 1) internally score and 2) incorporate these courses into |
| 39 | daily or weekly schedules, but all third-graders are expected to participate and receive final |
| 40 | grades. |
| 41 | b) When the first TALK cohort progresses to fourth grade, the incoming third-grade students will |
| 42 | also be required to enroll in either a Spanish or French course; the process will repeat the |
| 43 | following year. |
| 44 | c) The TALK Program will conclude in 2028, when the first third-grade cohort completes fifth |
| 45 | grade. |
| 46 | |
| 47 | Section VI: The TALK Committee will codify course-specific expectations and possible curricular |
| 48 | content, using the Tennessee World Language Standards as guidelines. |
| 49 | a) These courses must conform to the Tennessee World Language Standards at an elementary- |
| 50 | appropriate level, emphasizing the “Communication” strand with respect to novice-level speaking, |
| 51 | listening, and reading. |
| 52 | b) Third-grade classes should align with the “Novice Low” standards, introducing the ability to |
| 53 | deliver some memorized words and phrases (speaking), recognize common sounds and vocabulary |
| 54 | (listening), and connect some words to their English counterparts (reading). |
| 55 | c) Fourth- and fifth- grade classes should align with the more challenging “Novice Mid” and “Novice |
| 56 | High” standards, respectively. |
| 57 | |
| 58 | Section VII: The Committee will annually evaluate TALK’s success in a detailed report. |
| 59 | a) These evaluations will require: 1) required end-of-year reports from language teachers detailing |
| 60 | student progress and education challenges, 2) in-person visits from a Committee member, and 3) |
| 61 | standardized tests. |
| 62 | b) As with the course content, these tests will be designed by the Committee. They must conform |
| 63 | appropriately to the Tennessee World Language Standards across the “Novice” band, with each |
| 64 | grade level taking a slightly more rigorous assessment. |
| 65 | c) These assessments will not contribute in any manner to students’ course grades, and should not |
| 66 | be included on any transcript. |
| 67 | |
| 68 | Section VIII: If, at the conclusion of TALK, the Committee determines that the program has |
| 69 | established a satisfactory second language foundation for participating students, the Board of |
| 70 | Education will at that time develop a plan to incorporate secondary language education into all |
| 71 | Tennessee elementary schools. |
| 72 | |
| 73 | Section IX: The first year of the TALK Program will cost $15,000,000. |
| 74 | a) This will fall under the Direct Funding category of the TISA plan. |
| 75 | b) Each of the 25 participating elementary schools will receive $55,000. |
| 76 | c) The remaining $1,250,000 will be used as the TALK Committee sees fit, including but not limited |
| 77 | to unexpected expenses, administrative costs, or transportation expenses. |
| 78 | d) At the end of each school year, the TALK Committee will reassess the program’s funding needs, |
| 79 | to be incorporated into the Tennessee education budget. |
| 80 | |
| 81 | Section X: All laws or parts of laws in conflict with this bill are hereby repealed. |
| 82 | |
| 83 | Section XI: This act will take effect 90 days after passage, the public welfare requiring it. |
| 84 |