First Wave of Chinese Teachers Hits US

Thirty-four Mandarin-speaking teachers from China arrived in the United States in January as part of the Chinese Guest Teacher Program. The teachers will be placed in schools in 19 states and will teach at the high school, middle school, and elementary school level.

By 2009, the Program will bring as many as 250 qualified teachers from China to teach in American classrooms for up to three years.

The Chinese Guest Teacher Program is sponsored by China’s Office of Chinese Language Council International in partnership with the College Board. The Chinese Guest Teacher Program seeks to address the shortage of qualified Chinese teachers in the U.S. and meet the growing interest in Chinese among U.S. high school students.

The next group of up to 100 teachers will arrive in August 2007.

In a survey conducted in 2004, nearly 2,400 high schools expressed an interest in offering the AP (Advanced Placement) Chinese course in 2006-07. But many of these schools either are understaffed or have no teacher of Chinese, and many see no prospect of finding the teachers necessary to build their programs.