World Languages in the American School System: What We Can Learn from Odyssey Charter School’s Greek Immersion Program
Strand
Strand III: Program Design, Development and Evaluation
Immersion/Partner Language(s)
English and Greek
Level
Elementary (K-5)
Program Summary/Abstract Description
This article presents a “tool-kit” of best practices and proposals for critical supports to World Language Programs across the U.S. based on the unique, first-hand experiences of the Greek Language Immersion Program Team at Odyssey Charter School (OCS) in Wilmington, Delaware. This "tool-kit" includes the following insights and suggestions for designing, supporting, implementing, and evaluating successful immersion programs:
A proposal for improving teacher preparedness through suggested improvements to teacher recruitment & orientation procedures, improved programs for university-level support, and a proposal for an immersion teacher professonial development program to help teachers understand the correlation between cognitive and linguistic demands in the Dual Language Immersion classroom.
We also include first-hand design insights from our pioneering Greek langauge immersion teacher and a logic model as a blueprint for immersion program evuluation for continuous improvement.
Lead Presenter
Dr. Marina Mattheoudakis, PhD, Marina Mattheoudakis, School of English, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Role/Title
Dean of the Greek Department at Odyssey Charter School
Co-Presenters
Ms. Tina Iliadis, BA, Odyssey Charter School
Role/Title
Kindergarten Greek Language Immersion Teacher
Ms. Hrysoula L. Davis, BA, MA, Odyssey Charter School and Univerisity of Delaware
Role/Title
Greek Langauge Instructor, World Languages Instructional Coach, Doctoral Student at the University of DE