The Center for Urban Language Teaching and Research (CULTR) at Georgia State University has received a $640,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education to promote career readiness through language study and the development of global skills vital to academic and career preparation for students.

CULTR was established in 2014 with an initial grant of a little more than $178,000. The new funding will allow the center to extend its mission by expanding its annual events: the Global Language Leadership Meeting in May, World Languages Day in September and year-round Teacher Professional Development Workshops.

The center is one of 16 National Foreign Language Resource Centers funded by the Department of Education and the only one in the Southeast. Directed by its core values of access, advocacy, outreach and research, the center has developed innovative approaches to promoting access to language education for all students regardless of their socioeconomic and ethnic background.

Advocacy initiatives aim to increase awareness of the national need and support for language education and global skills preparation among parents, schools, communities and the private sector. In addition to the dissemination of research on access to dual language immersion and the learning, teaching and assessment of less commonly taught languages, CULTR creates downloadable free infographics, as well as Teacher, Family and Community Toolkits, podcasts and videos to build communities of practice among language educators.