| This study explores the knowledge of and use of the National Foreign Language Standards by Kansas secondary foreign language teachers as well as their use of various assessment techniques. The survey included teachers from the Catholic high schools, the 4A, 5A, and 6A public schools, and the schools in the ITV networks. The survey instrument was a questionnaire mailed to the schools. It asked for demographic information about the teachers, the schools, and the foreign language programs. In addition, it explored the teachers' perceptions of useful professional development opportunities, knowledge of the standards, different assessment categories, and the use of various assessment techniques.; The literature review focused on these four areas with an emphasis on the standards. To explore the data several comparisons were made. First, the researcher compared the three school types---Catholic, public, and ITV. Then, to further explore the results two other groups were sampled: one group based on education level and one group based on the variable of professional activity. The Mann-Whitney U test and the Chi Square statistical procedures were used to test the data for significance. Although the results show few significant findings the survey does provide up-dated information about the Kansas foreign language educators and offers insights for future planning and research.; Overall, sixty-two percent of the educators indicated that they had an average to poor knowledge of the standards. In this era where the national standards are the norm for the profession the need for professional development in this area is of great importance for Kansas. The responses based on the variables of school types and professional activity provided the most significant differences in the professional development area while the groups based on the variables of professional activity and education level showed the most significant differences in the area of the standards. The statistical analyses showed few significant differences in assessment and assessment techniques among the sampled groups. There was a positive emphasis on performance assessment, and a variety of assessment techniques were identified. |
