Deborah W. Robinson, Ph.D.
2010 State Supervisor of the Year

Deborah W. Robinson, Ph.D., World Languages Consultant at the Ohio Department of Education (ODE), was recognized November 17, 2010 as the State Supervisor of the Year. She received the award from Pearson/Prentice Hall and the National Council of State Supervisors for Languages (NCSSFL) at the annual meetings of NCSSFL and the National Association of District Supervisors of Foreign Languages (NADSFL) in Boston, Massachusetts, the city where Debbie was born.

At the ODE, Debbie shepherded the development of the state’s academic content standards and model curriculum. Under her leadership, Ohio signed memoranda of understanding with Spain, China, and France to promote teacher exchanges and to pair classrooms in Ohio with students abroad. She also facilitated the work of the Foreign Language Advisory Council’s legislatively mandated roadmap, “Passport to the Future: Ohio’s Plan for World Languages.” In addition, Dr. Robinson directed an international team of Chinese language teachers through Ohio’s three-year U.S. Department of Education FLAP grant to write and pilot detailed Mandarin Chinese units.

Debbie is a past president of the NCSSFL and the Ohio Foreign Language Association. She also is a former Ohio and Central States representative to the National Network for Early Language Learning. Through NCSSFL, she continues to lead the development of a common version of LinguaFolio and LinguaFolio Jr., student self-assessment tools that document language proficiency and intercultural competence. In addition, she has worked closely with Hanban and the College Board to interview and in-service the Guest Teachers from China who live and teach across the U.S. Debbie also serves as the chair of the Institutional Impact Taskforce on ACTFL’s three-year International Research Studies grant investigating the impact of the National Standards for Foreign Language Learning on the profession.

“While everyone talks about leadership, Debbie Robinson at the Ohio Department of Education actually provides it on a daily basis. She is widely viewed by faculty members, curriculum directors, superintendents, board of education members, and political officials as an expert in her field who is helping to better equip our students with the knowledge and skills necessary to compete in a global and multicultural society.”