TOLEDO, Ohio — Each year, hundreds of off-the-radar schools teach thousands of students Chinese in the United States, yet relatively little is known about such schools.
     
Now an Ohio researcher is conducting a first-ever count of the schools responsible for much of the country's Chinese language instruction. The goal is finding a way of connecting the schools to traditional classrooms at a time when interest in learning Chinese is growing.
     
"It's a very unique form of education," said An Chung Cheng, a University of Toledo professor. "We want to know their curriculum, their strengths, and their needs."
     
Cheng received a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education to find every single school, often referred to as Chinese heritage schools.
     
Estimates show that the schools, created by Chinese parents who want to pass the language on to their children, handle more than 70 percent of Chinese language instruction before college.
     
The schools have existed for years in the United States but are not part of the mainstream education system.     

Cheng said as many as 200,000 students attend some 450 of these heritage schools, which range from small groups of 20 students to large systems with branch campuses where thousands of students learn.
     
First, Cheng must find all the Chinese heritage schools, then send surveys requesting information about their history, student demographics and teaching methods.
     
Using those responses, Cheng wants to find ways to improve the programs and their instruction materials.
     
The Chinese Center of Toledo, also called Toledo Chinese School, has about 95 students from 3 to 17 years old.
     
Most are children of Chinese parents who want them to learn the language, but there are a few English-speaking families interested in having the children learn Chinese, said Ye Liang, the school's principal.
     
"It's not only speaking and listening, but the parents want them to read and also write in Chinese," Liang said.
     
In addition, the growing number of American parents who adopt a child from China want them to learn the language and culture of their native country. For those classes, parents are invited to participate, Liang said.

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