Valeri to speak at College Fair

CASIE expects over 300 students and parents to attend the fair on September 29 and 30, 2006. The Fair, which will be held at Atlanta International School, will give students studying in International Baccalaureate programmes an opportunity to meet with over 30 colleges and universities. Attending universities include:

• USA: University of Georgia, Georgia Tech, Middlebury, Duke University, Cornell University, Kenyon, Michigan State, Elon, Davidson, Colby, Emory, University of Tulsa, DePauw University
• UK: Bristol, Kent, Glasgow, Imperial College - London, University College - London, St. Andrews, York St. Johns.
• Ireland: Trinity College – Dublin.
• Australia: University of Melbourne, Australian National University.
• Canada: York, Toronto, Victoria, University of British Columbia, Carleton, Memorial University, Queens, University of Alberta.
• Netherlands: Erasmus University and Rotterdam College of Management.

For more information about this event, visit www.casieonline.org/IntCollegeFair.htm.

CrossWorlds: From Knowing to Doing
By Lynne McClendon, CrossWorlds Director

“From knowing to doing” is the tag line I use to describe where we are in CrossWorlds development. Our previous program, Understanding Diversity by Design, while outstanding in its concepts and components, nonetheless, offered “ways of knowing” to help teachers and administrators cope with international issues with a slight focus on English language learners and thus much of the focus was “how to get along’’ to improve student performance.”

One year ago CASIE started exploring how the CrossWorlds program could include more “international” approaches as a way to incorporate the cultural understanding tenets we believe are so important. These tenets are key to sustaining good educational benefits for ALL students and strengthening the school environment. The updated program focuses on getting participants involved in a process that has real world application rather than learning “about” the topic or theme. When people are involved in the “doing,” the object is to work together to understand and provide plausible solutions. Of course, key to pursing this is a correlation to the school’s needs and curriculum.

In order to address the school’s needs, the CrossWorlds program will include an assessment tool by which schools will be able to gage their degree of “international” or “global” character. Upon evaluation of the results yielded by the assessment tool, CASIE will offer a variety of follow-up services specific to the needs of the school. While the assessment tool is being polished, the follow-up services are being realigned or developed.

Another key to success is correlation with curriculum. To address this aspect, the CrossWorlds program is developing one-day seminars on timely issues. The first topic will be Water with direct correlations to the Georgia Performance Standards on which schools develop curriculum. Student/teacher teams will be invited to participate in hands-on activities and to hear leading experts. The teams will share the information with their respective schools involving a wider audience to develop a project related to water. In turn, the projects will be submitted for competition and awarded prizes based on set criteria. We are most fortunate in the Atlanta area to have a wealth of expertise available.

CASIE is excited to move forward with the new CrossWorlds program. We are confident it will meet the needs of educators and administrators throughout the region. We look forward to our first Water Congress in the fall of 2007 and welcome any feedback you have on our programs.

Global Language Convention Coming in 2008

CASIE will host the Global Convention on Dual-Language Learning in April 2008. The convention will feature distinguished keynote speakers and workshop presenters, along with some model lessons from teachers at Atlanta International School. Full details will be available by Spring 2007. In the meantime we will be calling for workshop presentations and inviting appropriate keynote speakers. Please contact Alex Horsley, casiedirector@aischool.org if you would like further information.

CASIE Online Gets a New Look

In early July, the new CASIE website went live. The new website features quick links to news, press releases and workshop information. Visit CASIE’s news section for quick links to recent stories about the International Baccalaureate and language learning. http://www.casieonline.org/NEWS/News.html.

In addition, the new site has details on all of CASIE’s initiatives. Please share your thoughts by sending an email to webmaster@casieonline.org.

2007 IB Workshop Dates Announced

• IB Orientation Workshop, April 6, 2007
• Middle Years Programme Levels 1, 2 and 3, June 19-21, 2007
• Primary Years Programme Levels 1, 2 and 3, June 27-29, 2007
• Diploma Programme Levels 1, 2 and 3 July 10-12, 2007
• Diploma Programme Level 2, October 11-13, 2007

To register for any of these workshops or find out additional info, please visit http://www.casieonline.org/index.cfm.

CASIE's new phone number is: 404.848.9044

PAST ISSUES         Summer '06         Winter '05-'06

Notes from Alex

Welcome to the newest edition of the CASIE Newsletter. 2006 is proving to be a banner year for CASIE with record numbers attending our IB training workshops, and a significant increase in the amount of consulting projects in both language and IB programs. We have moved into larger offices on the campus of Atlanta International School as we expect to continue our expansion over the next several years.

One major component of our programs is currently undergoing a complete review, and will shortly re-emerge as an important part of our overall operations. I refer to the CrossWorlds program, developed by CASIE in conjunction with three Atlanta area schools: Atlanta International School, Garden Hills School, an Atlanta Public Schools elementary school recently authorized to offer the IB PYP program and the International Community School, a Dekalb County Charter School currently in the IBPYP authorization process. The CrossWorlds program was originally designed to help schools address diversity issues but is now being extended to look at global issues such as conservation of resources. For additional information, please see the article in this issue.

During the summer I was fortunate enough to be invited to present a workshop on dual language education in an IB setting at the IBNA regional conference. The level of interest in that topic, both during and after the conference convinces me that there are tremendous opportunities for IB schools throughout the world to develop dual language programs. The fact is that there are remarkably few international schools that are genuinely dual language, which is unfortunate, given the fact that all IB programs stress the importance of being able to communicate proficiently in more than one language.

It appears to me that one of the problems is that most language educators and curriculum designers fail to recognize the basic tenet that language is primarily a means of communication rather than a pure academic discipline. (I hasten to add, of course, that study of the literature and philology of any language are academic disciplines.) It is interesting to note that in all my 20 years experience in dual language schools with IB programs I have met hundreds of students with genuine dual language proficiency, but, to the best of knowledge, not a single one has gone on to major in a second language in college or university. Rather they have gone on to higher education and careers in a wide variety of fields, with their proficiency in two (or more) languages a real asset in their chosen field.

Best wishes to all for a successful 2006 – 2007 school year (or conclusion of the 2006 year if you are in the southern hemisphere)

Sincerely,
Alex Horsley

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