APS World Language

Middle School Language - High School Credit

In Atlanta Public Schools, world language instruction begins in elementary school. APS is one of the only districts in the state of Georgia to have a comprehensive world languages program that begins on elementary school level in all elementary schools. For the 2017 - 2018 school year, the APS World Language Program will continue to provide opportunities for middle school students to earn high school credit. Below is an overview explaining the the course progression.

It is imperative that parents are involved in the education of their children; therefore, Parent Letters should be distributed by the world language teacher during the first couple weeks of school. The parent letters have been translated into several languages to ensure that our parents who have a language other than English are also informed. For these parents, schools should send the letter home with English on one side and the home language of the parent on the other if a language other than English is spoken at home. If you are not sure of the home language of a student, please check with the ESOL teacher assigned to your school.

Course Progression: Download MS WL Progression 2017 - 2018

Parent Letter, English: (Schools should personalize this document with school name) Download MS WL Parent Letter 2017 2018

Parent Letter, Spanish: (Schools should personalize this document with school name) Download Ms-wl-parent-letter-2017-2018 SPAN

Middle School World Languages 2017-2018

The APS World Language program for middle school has transitioned to a program that provides high school credit in middle school. According to current APS Board Policy IHC “Grades earned for qualifying high school courses taken at the middle-school level shall be included on the transcript, but shall not be factored into the weighted numeric grade-point average for class-ranking purposes.” While a World Language is no longer required to obtain a Georgia high school diploma, two or more credits in the same world language are required for admission into most colleges and universities.

The APS world language course progression allows students to continue the world language study that began in elementary school and provides greater access to higher-level world language courses in high school. There are several scheduling options for middle school world languages. The determination of the scheduling model to be used should be driven by the language and the model used at the feeder elementary schools and the cluster focus. According to the APS Standards of Service for middle schools, schools must offer programs that provide both Exposure and Proficiency models. IB authorized schools must provide the Proficiency model beginning in 6^th grade. The Proficiency model is one that provides a year-long option with the use of the high school course number and the Exposure model is the Connections course that is offered for only a portion of the year.

Because high school courses earn a Carnegie Unit of credit, they must adhere to certain instructional hour requirements. The middle school options of Exposure and Proficiency are driven by the number of instructional hours the middle school schedule will allow within the academic year. Offering the Level I or the Level II course within one year requires 135 - 150 instructional hours. Schools unable to schedule world languages for at least 45 minutes DAILY must use the Level Ia/Level Ib option. This option will divide the high school Carnegie Unit of credit over two years. Schools that are able to schedule a class for 135 or more hours are required to use the high school course option for Level I/II and may not use the a/b option. Students may not be shifted into a high school credit bearing course during the school year unless the student has transferred from another school the offers that language.

Click here for the middle school program overview document: Download MS WL Progression 2017 - 2018

 

Connections World Language

Middle School Connections World Language courses are designed to give students a taste for the study of the language.  During the nine week course, students will be briefly exposed to the history, culture, music, art, and literature of the target language . While students will study some basic elements of the language, the main purpose of the course is to offer students a framework with which they can better understand and appreciate their language studies in the high school course.  The class often will culminate in a project where students will choose a topic to research in depth.  This topic might include choosing a particular country of the target language, a specific historical or cultural event or a piece of art or music. The project is often shared with classmates.