With support from dodea, groton public school will improve and expand its world language program

The Department of Defense Education Activity awarded Groton Public School District a $1,190,516 Block Grant under the Competitive Grants: Promoting K-12 Student Achievement at Military-Connected Schools program. The grant will fund professional development for Groton's world language teachers provided by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages to shift instructional methods towards a proficiency-based approach aligned with ACTFL standards. Groton will also use the funding to hire two additional world language teachers to expand the program across all five elementary schools. The goal is to improve student world language proficiency and cultural understanding, particularly for Groton's military-connected population. Groton will evaluate the program's impact on academic achievement and social-emotional wellbeing using standardized and qualitative metrics.

All GPS world language teachers will engage in a multi-year onsite professional development program with expert trainers from the american council on the teaching of foreign languages (actfl). The purpose of this training is to shift the current mode of instruction towards the preferred proficiency-based method aligned with actfl's world-readiness standards for learning languages. GPS will also hire two new world language teachers to expand the program to all five elementary schools. The goal of this effort is to improve students' world language proficiency and foster a deeper understanding and appreciation for cultures other than their own. Using standardized quantitative educational metrics and qualitative teacher surveys, GPS will study the impact of these efforts on the academic achievement and social-emotional wellbeing of our students, with a focus on our military-connected population.