Evaluation of Strategic Foreign Languages Expansion Program Grant Concludes

The Shaffer Evaluation Group completed its evaluation of the Virginia Beach City Public Schools’ Department of Defense Strategic Foreign Languages Expansion Program (S-FLEP) project. The goal of this project was to expand the success of the district's STARTALK Elementary Summer Chinese Program into a completely articulated Mandarin Chinese program. The S-FLEP grant enabled the school district to offer Mandarin Chinese in targeted middle and high schools through a combination of face-to-face and distance learning instruction. As part of the project evaluation, the Shaffer Evaluation Group conducted annual site visits to participating schools, observing classroom instruction using the Teacher Effectiveness for Language Learning (TELL) observation protocols and interviewing school administrative and counseling staff.