Foreign Language Assistance Program (FLAP)
The U.S. Department of Education provides grants to local educational agencies (LEAs) for innovative model programs providing for the establishment, improvement, or expansion of foreign language study for elementary and secondary school students. An LEA that receives a grant under this program must use the funds to support programs that show promise of being continued beyond the grant period and demonstrate approaches that can be disseminated to and duplicated in other LEAs. Projects supported under this program may also include a professional development component.
This notice involves the following priorities:
Competitive Preference Priorities
1. Critical Need Languages This priority supports projects that establish, improve, or expand foreign language learning, primarily during the traditional school day, within grade kindergarten through grade 12, and that exclusively teach one or more of the following less commonly taught languages: Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Russian, and languages in the Indic, Iranian, and Turkic language families.
2. Projects that include intensive summer foreign language programs for professional development.
3. Projects that link non-native English speakers in the community with the schools in order to promote two-way language learning.
4. Projects that promote the sequential study of a foreign language for students, beginning in elementary schools.
5. Projects that make effective use of technology, such as computer-assisted instruction, language laboratories, or distance learning, to promote foreign language study.
6. Projects that promote innovative activities, such as foreign language immersion, partial foreign language immersion, or content-based instruction.
Invitational Priorities
1. Applicants that propose to develop high levels of student foreign language proficiency through increased instructional time in the foreign language, research-based instructional practices, and opportunities that enhance classroom instruction such as community- based activities and study-abroad experiences.
2. Applicants that propose to collaborate with an institution of higher education to provide professional development for foreign language teachers, which may include teacher “action research” projects, coursework designed to assist teachers in meeting certification or licensure requirements, or long-term professional development to improve teacher instruction and assessment strategies.
Intent to Apply Deadline: May 11, 2009.
Application Deadline: May 27, 2009.
www.ed.gov/programs/flap/index.html.

What Kids Can Do: Speech Contest 2009
As Graduation Day approaches, What Kids Can Do invites
students to raise their voice and let others know what matters most to them in this moment and in the years ahead. This year’s theme: “Crisis and Hope in These Trying Times.”
Maximum Award: $100 gift certificate from amazon.com
Eligibility: Anyone from age 12 to 19, writing in English
Deadline: May 18, 2009
http://www.wkcd.org/featurestories/2009/03_WKCD%20speech%20contest/index.html

Target: Early Childhood Reading Grants
Target Early Childhood Reading Grants support programs like weekend book clubs and after-school reading programs that foster a love of reading and encourage children, from birth through age nine, to read together with their families.
Maximum Award: $3,000
Eligibility: Schools, libraries, and nonprofit organizations.
Deadline: May 31, 2009
http://sites.target.com.

Center for Early Care and Education Research: Dual Language Learners
Funds are provided by the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) for the creation of a Center for Research in Early Care and Education to focus on dual language learners (DLLs) from birth through 5 years of age and their families.
Maximum Award: $1,500,000 (year one)
Eligibility: Open to all types of domestic applicants other than individuals
Deadline: Jun 15, 2009
http://www07.grants.gov.

The National Association of Independent Schools: Challenge 20/20 Partnership
The National Association of Independent Schools invites schools to participate in Challenge 20/20, a program that brings together two schools: one from the U.S. and one from abroad. Teacher-student teams from both schools work together to come up with a solution to a global problem. Challenge 20/20 is based on Jean François Rischard’s book, “High Noon: 20 Global Problems, 20 Years to Solve Them.”
Maximum Award: Program participation
Eligibility: All U.S. schools, elementary and secondary, public or private
Deadline: August 17, 2009
http://www.nais.org/resources/index.cfm?ItemNumber=147262.

Brown Rudnick Center for the Public Interest: Insight/Foresight Grants
Brown Rudnick will fund specific, one-time future education-related needs or ideas that promise to improve inner-city education within one year of the grant award in one of the cities eligible for foundation grants.
Maximum Award: $2,000
Eligibility: Small, concrete projects that will improve inner-city education in Boston, Hartford, Providence, New York, or Washington, D.C.
Deadline: N/A
http://www.brownrudnickcenter.com/foundation/communitygrant.asp.

Comcast Grants for Diversity-Oriented Programs
The Comcast Foundation is awarding grants to maximize the
impact of community investments so they yield tangible, measurable benefits to the neighborhoods Comcast serves and the people who live there. The Foundation’s primary focus is in funding diversity-oriented programs that address literacy, volunteerism, and youth leadership development.
Maximum Award: $500,000
Eligibility: 501(c)3 orgs within communities that Comcast serves
Deadline: N/A
http://www.comcast.com/foundation.

Fund for Teachers: Grants for Travel and Growth
The Fund for Teachers makes direct grants to teachers for summer learning opportunities of their own design.
Maximum Award: $5,000
Eligibility: Teachers K-12 with a minimum of three years teaching experience; teachers must be full-time and spend at least 50 percent of the time in the classroom when grants are approved and made.
Deadline: Varies by state
http://www.fundforteachers.org/apply.html

Grants for Early Literary Professionals
RA & RR Reading Conference Grants are available to help fund expenses for selected early literacy professionals attending International Reading Association or Reading Recovery conferences.
Maximum Award: $200
Eligibility: Early literacy professionals (grades K-3)
Deadline: N/A
http://www.wilbooks.com/scholarships/travelgrant.php

In This Issue of
Language Magazine

So You Want to Learn Chinese?

Oral Paths to Writing

Multimedia for Deaf Learners

Travel Insurance