Transforming World Language Pedagogy Statewide Through Standards-Based Professional Learning

• In Event: Humanizing Professional Learning: Equity, Agency, and Well-being Across California Subject Matter Projects

Abstract

Objectives or Purposes
This study examines the impact of a weeklong, standards-based professional learning seminar on world language teachers’ instructional practices, beliefs, and wellbeing. It investigates how participation in the California World Language Project (CWLP) Summer Seminar influences teachers’ implementation of the California World Languages Standards and Framework and how the experience affects self-efficacy, burnout, and thriving. The central research questions are:
How does sustained professional learning impact teachers’ use of student-centered, standards-aligned instructional practices?
What are the effects of this learning experience on teachers’ beliefs, self-efficacy, and wellbeing?

Theoretical Framework
The study is grounded in Desimone and Garet’s (2015) framework for effective professional development, which outlines five core features: content focus, active learning, coherence, duration, and collective participation. It also draws on the California Standards for the Teaching Profession and literature on teacher wellbeing (Jennings, 2019), situating the work within a holistic approach to professional growth that attends to both instructional change and emotional sustainability.

Methods
This is a mixed-methods study involving two sequential cohorts (2023 and 2024) of TK–12 world language teachers participating in CWLP’s Summer Seminar. Each cohort engaged in 40 hours of professional learning designed to strengthen their implementation of standards-based strategies. The study combines quantitative survey analysis with qualitative focus group interviews to examine both outcomes and teacher perspectives over time.

Data Sources
Data sources include pre-, post-, and follow-up teacher surveys assessing burnout, self-efficacy, and thriving. Instructional practice was measured using the Teaching Competency Assessment Tool (TCAT), an observational rubric aligned to California’s World Languages Standards (CWLP, 2022). Additionally, 27 participants from across both years took part in focus group interviews, which were transcribed and coded thematically to explore perceived impacts of the PL experience.
Results and/or Substantiated Conclusions or Warrants for Arguments/Point of View
Quantitative findings revealed statistically significant improvements in teachers’ use of standards-based instructional strategies (p < .001), with evidence of sustained growth at follow-up. The 2024 cohort also demonstrated significant gains in self-efficacy (p = .006) and reductions in burnout (p < .05). Qualitative analysis surfaced two core themes: increased pedagogical confidence and strengthened professional identity. Teachers described greater clarity in implementing backward design, Integrated Performance Assessments, and culturally responsive practices. They also emphasized the relational and restorative nature of the seminar, frequently referencing a sense of belonging and professional renewal.

Scholarly Significance of the Study or Work
This study contributes to the underexplored field of world language teacher development by offering empirical evidence of the impact of sustained, standards-based professional learning. It also adds to scholarship linking teacher learning with educator wellbeing. The findings support the argument that transformative PL must be both intellectually rigorous and emotionally sustaining, particularly in disciplines that foreground culture, communication, and identity. The research affirms the value of community-centered, humanizing models of teacher professional growth.

Authors

• Margaret Peterson, Stanford University

• Eduardo Rafael Munoz-Munoz, San José State University