News from the board
Celebrating Excellence: MITA/AATI Teacher of the Year Award and Honor for Service
Dr. Gina Maiellaro Recognized as Best Teacher of the Year 2023 and Honored for Service to MITA/AATI
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We are thrilled to announce that Dr. Gina Maiellaro, Teaching Professor of Italian and Associate Director for Curriculum and Instruction at the World Languages Center at Northeastern University, has been awarded the title of Best Teacher of the Year and Honored Service to MITA/AATI for 2023.
Gina’s commitment, passion, and exceptional contributions to Italian language education have truly earned her this recognition. With her expertise in assessment, she has served as the director of the AATI National Italian Exam since 2018. Under her leadership, the exam has been completely revised to align with ACTFL proficiency guidelines and has transitioned from a traditional format to a digital tool with high validity scores. Her unwavering dedication to MITA and its mission has significantly enriched the community of Italian educators in Massachusetts. As a board member, Gina focuses on the association communication, organizes professional development workshops, and applies for grants to support these initiatives, benefiting teachers across the state. Her tireless efforts in promoting the Italian language and fostering a vibrant collegial environment among Massachusetts Italian educators have made a notable impact on our educational community. Join us in celebrating Gina Maiellaro's achievements at the MAFLA Conference. |
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Advocacy
In this ever changing world, where globalization, intercultural exchange, and communication with the 'other' are key not only to success but to the future itself... Advocacy for learning Italian in Massachusetts is a priority for MITA. In this section teachers will find some useful tools.
Why study Italian?Il Portale della Lingua Italiana Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale This site is dedicated to teachers and students interested in Italian and offers useful information and news. Usspeaksitalian.org Osservatorio sulla lingua italiana Usspeaksitalian.org is the website of the Osservatorio of the Italian Language, which promotes the diffusion of the teaching of Italian language and culture in the United States, as well as the promotion of student participation in the Advanced Placement Program in Italian. |
Italy: The Extraordinary Commonplace
A video created by the Ministero per lo Sviluppo Economico. |
National Initiatives
Lead with Languages
An ACTFL initiative, Lead with Languages is an unprecedented, multi-year campaign aimed at reversing the nation’s language skills gap and making language learning a national priority. Click here to find useful information, data, statistics as well as advocacy tips for your Italian language campaign. |
ACTFL Advocacy Kit
The site offers very useful advice on language advocacy focusing in particular on how to start, expand or save a language program. 
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Seal of Biliteracy
The Seal of Biliteracy is an award given by a school, district, or state in recognition of students who have studied and attained proficiency in two or more languages by high school graduation. The site offers updated information on each state's initiatives. Find out more about the Seal, your state’s status, and how you can implement a program in your school at the ACTFL website. 
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International Education Week IEW is an opportunity to celebrate the benefits of international education and exchange worldwide. This joint initiative of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education is part of our efforts to promote programs that prepare Americans for a global environment and attract future leaders from abroad to study, learn, and exchange experiences. |
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The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) and its Lead with Languages campaign, with the support of Pearson LLC and Language Testing International, commissioned Ipsos Public Affairs to conduct a survey of 1,200 U.S. employers, and the resulting 2019 report, Making Languages Our Business: Addressing Foreign Language Demand Among U.S. Employers, indicates an urgent and growing demand for language skills in the workplace.The report also suggests seven actionable recommendations that U.S. businesses may employ to fully leverage their employees’ language assets and to contribute to fostering a robust future multilingual workforce to better thrive in our global economy.
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