Education | China Insight

Update on a Minnesota Gem: Yinghua Academy, A Minnesota Top Ten School

Details: Published on Friday, 03 August 2012 09:12

By Jodi Yim James, Staff Writer

With the release of the new Multiple Measure Rating (which replaces No Child Left Behind), Yinghua Academy ranks 10th out of 2,255 charter and public schools in the state of Minnesota.

The new MMR assesses 1) proficiency, 2) growth, 3) progress in closing achievement gaps, and 4) graduation rate. It is intended to be a more accurate way to monitor school performance. With an overall rating of 98.26% and an achievement gap rating of 98.80%, Yinghua Academy teachers, students, administrators, staff, and parents are deemed highly successful in their goal of rigorous academics.

Perpich Arts High School serves as setting for cultural exchange for Chinese students

Details: Published on Monday, 04 June 2012 13:47

The Perpich Center for Arts Education (PCAE), a public arts-centered high school for grades 11-12 in Golden Valley, recently served as the temporary campus for 6 students and a teacher from Luoyang #1 Senior High School, Henan, China.

This exchange is the result of last year’s visit by another delegation from Luoyang that was Perpich’s first Chinese exchange program. A group of students and teachers from Perpich earlier this spring visited Luoyang.

The purpose of the Perpich program is to immerse students in an experimental cultural exchange. The visiting students stayed with host families in student homes over the weekends so that they could learn firsthand what life is like in a particular geographic area, building common bonds of mutual understanding.

The Minnesota Mandarin Initiative: Part 3

Details: Published on Monday, 14 May 2012 14:11

By Jodi Yim James, Staff Writer

“Every school in Minnesota would love to have a Chinese language program.”
Ursula Lentz, Minnesota Department of Education

Ursula Lentz is the new World Language expert at the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE). When I spoke with her, she had been on the job for all of three days.

Previously, Jan Kittok was the World Languages Coordinator for MDE; Kittok is now the World Languages Administrator for all of Minneapolis Public Schools. She was featured in an earlier interview for China Insight.

Lentz’s official title is MDE World Language & English Learner Education Specialist. Her contact information is 651-582-8664, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Since Lentz has only been on the job three days, we are going to give her a break and get back to her later when she is comfortable in her new hat. However, it should be noted that Lentz worked for many years on language assessments with CARLA (Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition) at the University of Minnesota.

The Minnesota Mandarin Initiative 2005-2012: How far we have come in 7 years!

Details: Published on Saturday, 31 March 2012 19:30

By Jodi Yim James, Staff Writer

“Really, when it comes to teaching Chinese, Minnesota is seen as a leader,” said John Melick, who was the director of Chinese language initiatives for the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) in 2008. This was only two years after MDE Commissioner, Alice Seagren, led an education delegation to China in 2006. What began as a question asked by Governor Tim Pawlenty during his trade delegation trip to China in 2005 – If Chinese students are learning English, why are our students not learning Chinese? – had become, under his leadership, an initiative for Mandarin language education in Minnesota.

Minnesota Chinese Schools

Details: Published on Friday, 03 February 2012 06:59

Publisher's Note: This article has been replaced by a new searchable database. Please click here to go to the China Insight Chinese Schools database.

The Minnesota Mandarin Initiative

Details: Published on Monday, 05 March 2012 11:10

By Jodi Yim James, Staff Writer

Perhaps the most important relationship of this century is the United States and China. Unfortunately few Americans are fluent in the Chinese language of Mandarin. Furthermore, most Americans have limited understanding of the Chinese culture, outside of eating take-out chow mein, which is not really Chinese cuisine. Without fluency in Mandarin and without Chinese cultural understanding there is limited insight of how to work together effectively in this important 21st century friendship. It is significant to consider that Chinese students are, for the most part, required to study the English language at school in Mainland China.

Preparing Chinese K-12 Teachers in Minnesota to be Strong Language Teaching Professionals

Details: Published on Thursday, 02 February 2012 11:04

By Jodi Yim James, Staff Writer

mbigelow photo Dr. Martha Bigelow is an Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction of the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD). Bigelow's program, Second Languages and Cultures Education, prepares Mandarin Chinese language teachers to teach in K-12 schools in Minnesota.