• 21st century world languages curriculum
• Unit design
• Lesson design
• Assessment of and for learning
• Curriculum design
• World-readiness standards
• Proficiency guidelines summary
• Methods, theories, and approaches of language acquisition
• Challenges: education
• Core anchor standards
• NCSSFL-ACTFL can-do proficiency benchmarks
• Essential questions
• Well-being: a balanced lifestyle
• Unit template
• Key language functions and sample progressions
• Lesson plan template
• Chinese lesson plan for third grade

• Facilitating instructor-learner partnerships for learning
• Creating a language- and culture-rich, safe learning environment
• Communicating effectively: linking the three modes with culture
• Engaging all learners: independence and collaboration
• Evaluating instructional strategies
• World-readiness standards
• NCSSFL/ACTFL can-do proficiency benchmarks
• Getting acquainted activities
• Interpersonal activities
• Interpretive activities
• Presentational activities

• Heritage language teaching in the United States: an introduction
• General sociolinguistic considerations
• Who are heritage language learners?
• Goals and principles in heritage language instruction
• Developing listening and speaking skills
• Developing literacy skills: reading
• Developing literacy skills: writing
• Approaches to grammar instruction
• Developing cultural proficiency
• Program and administrative considerations

"Offering a fresh and original perspective on communicative language teaching, this brand new title in the McGraw-Hill Second Language Professional Series provides the latest guidelines and information for practicing teachers as well as for students in teacher preparation courses at the graduate and undergraduate levels"--Page 4 of cover

• Constructing a road map for teaching and learning
• Basing assessment on standards
• Step-by-step : designing performance assessment tasks
• Designing rubrics to assess performance
• Engaging, motivating, and involving students
• Impacting instruction and program articulation through performance assessments
• References
• Appendixes. National standards for foreign language learning
• ACTFL performance guidelines for K-12 learners
• IPA comprehension guide templates
• Integrated Performance Assessment (IPA) rubrics
• LinguaFolio Wisconsin : culture
• Proficiency levels needed in the world of work
• LinguaFolio : self-assessment grid
• IPA project acknowledgments

Students continually ask, "Does this count?" "Is this on the test?" They want to know how they'll be evaluated. Discover how to answer these questions in ways that shape student learning and keep teaching focused on what really matters. Written by language expert Paul Sandrock, this superb manual clarifies precisely what language educators need to understand in order to successfully assess student performance. Relevant to new teachers and seasoned professionals alike, Sandrock provides step-by-step guidance on how to design assessments, illuminates the process of designing rubrics that focus on proficiency and helps educators create assessments that motivate students to offer language samples that accomplish authentic purposes. School administrators will also benefit from the section that focuses on the impact of performance assessment on instruction and program design. - Publisher