LTC 405-2015 Extended Foreign Language (EFL) Update ® l
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OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
NO. LTC # 405-2015 LETTER TO COMMISSION
To: Mayor Philip Levine and Members (`,f the City C}mmission
From: Jimmy L. Morales, City Manager --may
Date: October 19, 2015
Subject: Extended Foreign Language (EF4Update
The purpose of this Letter to Commission is to provide information on the status of our
partnership with Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) to increase Extended Foreign
Language (EFL) classes in Miami Beach public elementary schools.
The M-DCPS Extended Foreign Language (EFL) Program offers a school within a school
approach to world language education enabling student to interact across linguistic and cultural
boundaries. The goal of the EFL program in Miami Beach public schools is to offer students the
opportunity to become proficient in speaking, reading, and writing in English and Spanish.
At the end of the 2013-14 school year, 217 students were placed on the M-DCPS wait list for
the EFL programs in the Miami Beach feeder public elementary schools due to a shortage of
linguistically qualified teachers. At the June 11, 2014 Commission meeting, the City agreed to
support teacher professional development to increase the number of linguistically qualified
instructors in Miami Beach public schools. As such, M-DCPS provided training to interested
Miami Beach public schools teachers during the 2014-15 school year.
At the beginning of the 2015-16 school year, an additional six (6) EFL classes were added to
the existing forty-five (45) EFL classes in public elementary schools, for 51 EFL classes in total
in Miami Beach public elementary schools. Per M-DCPS district personnel, no students were
placed on an EFL program wait list in Miami Beach public schools for the 2015-16 school year.
Additionally, public elementary schools in Miami Beach now have additional linguistically
qualified teachers to address student EFL program interest in upcoming school years.
We will continue to support our strategic outcome to achieve K-12 public school excellence
through our Education Compact. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
JLM/K B/LDR