Cheri Quinlan2012 State Supervisor of the Year
Cheri Quinlan, World Languages, International Education and Gifted & Talented Coordinator at the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE), was recognized as the 2012 recipient of the State Supervisor of the Year Award at the Annual Meeting of the National Council of State Supervisors for Languages (NCSSFL) in Philadelphia, PA on November 14, 2012.
Upon her arrival at the NJDOE in 2008, Cheri was tasked with leading a team of world language experts to revise the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standard for World Languages. In an effort to support teachers in implementing the new Standard, she collaborated with distinguished world language educators to create Classroom Application Documents, World Language Standards in Action Documents and A 21st Century Model Unit. Through funding available from a Foreign Language Assistant Program (FLAP) grant, Cheri also organized two week-long summer trainings (turn-key teacher training) in using technology to meet the demands of the new Standard. In 2009, she brought together ten pilot districts to conduct a four-year longitudinal study of high school students’ proficiency growth, NEW JERSEY’S MODEL FOR HIGH SCHOOL REFORM IN WORLD LANGUAGES: Building a Linguistically and Culturally Competent Workforce. This spring will mark the completion of this project that has been supported through a FLAP grant. Most recently, Cheri has been working with a group of world languages educators to develop a Model Curriculum that includes Student Learning Objectives and Can-Do statements based on LinguaFolio®.
Prior to coming to the NJDOE, Cheri was a teacher of Spanish and a supervisor of World Languages for the Toms River Regional Schools in Toms River, NJ. At her core she is a teacher. Her ‘classroom’ has changed throughout her career, but her focus has always been to provide her ‘students’ with the tools that they need to reach their potential.