This comprehensive vision, The World Languages Handbook, represents three years work and the combined efforts of World Language teachers from Central, Chamberlin and Orchard Elementary Schools, Frederick H. Tuttle Middle School and South Burlington High School. The first document, Climbing Toward Knowledge and Global Understanding, was completed in July 1995 and outlines the five standards and 22 situational tasks that have been developed to determine survival-level proficiency in the target language. Each task includes performance assessment that measures the five standards for speaking, listening, reading, writing and culture. The situational tasks identify specifically what vocabulary, grammar and context need to be taught by three benchmark points in the K-12 curriculum -- 5th grade benchmark, 8th grade benchmark and the survival level assessment in high school (in French III and Spanish III). The framework for Climbing Toward Knowledge and Global Understanding grew out of local, state, and national guidelines that have addressed the need for the establishing of standards.

The second document, The World Language Curriculum Guide, begins with a breakdown of the 22 situational tasks and delineates the points at which progress towards final mastery of the tasks will be assessed, realizing the final assessment will be at the high school. It also contains an outline of the curriculum concepts behind all the standards and clearly delineates where and how each curriculum concept is treated. Careful attention was paid to the progressive development of each curriculum concept starting with the instruction of basics in the elementary schools, expansion and refinement at FHTMS and further expansion and refinement at SBHS. In addition, we have specified what students will be asked to do to demonstrate acquisition of the curriculum concept at each level -- K-3, 4-5, 6-8, high school.

The final pages are a comprehensive list of specific grammar and vocabulary, the "building blocks" behind each curriculum concept, broken down again K-3, 4-5, 6-8 and through high school. All "building blocks" are directly related, in the end, to the task the student may be asked to perform and are the product of input from all the World Language teachers who were involved in the drafting of the guide.

The underlying purpose of The World Language Handbook has been to provide a framework to insure uniformity among teachers, among schools, at any point in the K-12 curriculum. World Language teachers have agreed philosophically with its purpose, and have endorsed the minimal curriculum guidelines set forth, in a united effort to provide all students with equal access to success at demonstrating survival skills. The curriculum guide will be revised yearly to include any additions and/or deletions that we feel appropriate as we respond to student needs and the needs of the community, state, nation and world in which we live. It is an initial framework, and will serve as a framework on which to build linguistic proficiency and global understanding.

This handbook lays the foundation for further development in the advanced study of world languages such as Advanced Placement courses, target language career studies (French / Spanish for Business, Latin American / Canadian Studies, etc.).