This article describes the Elementary Foreign Language Task Force's efforts once the Arizona State Board of Education passed a mandate requiring that all elementary schools teach a foreign language. The Task Force identified the essential components of an effective program: 1) coordination; 2) commitment; 3) integration of foreign language with other subjects; 4) goals; 5) staffing; 6) materials; 7) instructional principles; 8) examples of delivery systems; 9) articulation; 10) grades involved; 11) languages to be taught; 12) funding and legislation; 13) evaluation plan; 14) methods of implementation. The Arizona Task Force reviewed several existing programs with national prominence. These preliminary review effortsle d to a proposed model in which Arizona's school districts were to decide the target language of instruction once they identified curricular and personnel resources. In response, Northern Arizona University launched a strong teacher‐training effort during the summer of 1992. As a result, many of Arizona's children currently benefit from foreign language instruction.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.