Quick Takes

Foreign language instruction in elementary and secondary schools is "no better -- and in some areas worse" -- than it was in 1997, according to the "National K-12 Foreign Language Survey." The study found "pockets of innovation" in teaching methods and increases (from a very low base) in the teaching of Arabic and Chinese. But many other findings -- with implications for foreign language programs at colleges and universities -- suggested backward movement. The teaching of French, German and Russian all are down at both the elementary and secondary level; the gaps between foreign language availability at public and private schools have grown larger; and "severe" teacher shortages exist in many areas. The report, based on a national survey, was conducted by the Center for Applied Linguistics for the U.S. Education Department.

The Department of Veterans Affairs pledged Wednesday that it is prepared to process benefits requests in a timely way as the spring semester gets started. Since the Post-9/11 GI Bill started last year, the VA has paid more than $1.3 billion in benefits to more than 170,000 students. At the start of the fall semester, many veterans and the colleges that were enrolling them reported serious delays in the certification of students and delivery of their benefits. Wednesday's statement acknowledged that some students faced "financial hardships" as a result. The new statement said that the VA has processed over 72,000 of the approximately 103,000 spring enrollments received.

Northwestern College, in Minnesota, is facing an "identity crisis," The Star Tribune reported. Some students and alumni accuse the college of trying to weed out traditional professors and trustees and to shift toward a "postmodern" theology, the newspaper said. Administrators and trustees say that no philosophical shift has taken place and that the controversy is all the work of a small group of disgruntled alumni.

A New Hampshire judge has dismissed a lawsuit challenging the decision of Dartmouth College to expand the size of its board, effectively reducing the proportion of trustees that are elected by alumni. The ruling was based in part on the dismissal of a similar, earlier challenge to the college's board expansion.

Israel's government is backing the stance of the Ariel University Center of Samaria, located on the West Bank, that it is indeed an Israeli university and not a college, Haaretz reported. The institution was founded as a college and has been pushing for university status, with backing from those who advocate a strong Israeli presence on the West Bank. Advocates for Palestinians have criticized the growth of the institution as needlessly disruptive to peace talks.