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If you have international education initiatives
that would be of interest to leaders throughout the
country, please send them to:
hsingmaster@asiasociety.org
| National Geographic Announces My Wonderful World Campaign |
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On May 2, National Geographic and leaders from the
business, nonprofit and education communities unveiled
a public-engagement campaign designed to give U.S.
students tools to become more informed global citizens.
The goal of the five-year, multimedia campaign - My
Wonderful World - is to improve the geographic literacy
of young people ages 8-17 by motivating parents and
educators to expand geographic offerings in school, at
home and in their communities.
The Web site at the heart of the campaign,
MyWonderfulWorld.org, provides resources for parents
to help kids be more geo-savvy. It includes suggestions
for family activities and ways that parents can work to
get more geography into the classroom, links to
geography games for kids and teens and classroom
materials for educators. The site also provides tools for
communicating to policymakers and education leaders
the importance of geographic literacy.
A new geographic literacy study released in conjunction
with the campaign by the National Geographic Society
and Roper Public Affairs provides alarming new evidence
that American youth aged 18 to 24, those who most
recently left the education system, still display a
disturbing lack of basic geographic knowledge about the
world they will inherit.
For more information visit mywonderfulworld.org
National Geographic »
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| Delaware and Virginia Summits on International Education |
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Delaware: Led by Secretary of Education,
Valerie Woodruff, Delaware held its Summit on
International Education on April 27. The Summit was
keynoted by Ernest Dianastatis, Chair of the Delaware
Business Roundtable, who issued an urgent call to raise
Delaware's education system to truly global standards.
Summit participants, who represented every district in
the state, discussed steps to make graduates globally
competent by infusing international content into the
statewide recommended curriculum, teacher
professional development and leadership training. The
Summit included the signing of agreements with Spain
and China to promote languages and cultural exchanges.
Virginia: The Virginia International Education
Summit was convened on May 2 by the Governor's
Office and State Department of Education to promote a
strategic plan for integrating global education across
the curriculum, with a special emphasis on high school
reform and teacher preparation and professional
development. Attendees from the business, policy,
university and K-12 communities assessed the
demographic and economic shifts in Virginia's economy
and population base, identified current best practices in
global studies, discussed the results of a statewide
survey on existing resources and programs and
formulated priorities for Governor Tim Kaine and
State Superintendent Dr. Billy K. Cannaday, Jr.
For more information visit:
www.internationaled.org/directory.htm
State Summits »
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| New Report on China and Special Issue of Learning Languages |
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Report of the U.S.-China Education Leaders Forum
on Math and Science Education
In 2005, Asia Society convened a high-level group of
mathematics and science education experts from the
United States and the People's Republic of China.
Math and Science Education in a Global Age: What the
U.S. Can Learn from China assesses a range of
areas where American and Chinese educators
can learn from each country's strengths and challenges
in mathematics, science and technology education at
the primary and secondary level. For information on this
report please visit: http://www.askasia.org/Chinese/
The Professional Journal of the National Network of Early
Language Learning, Learning Languages, has
published a spring issue focused on International
Education and Culture. Primarily written for K-8
teachers, the issue features articles on strategies for
teaching culture, the benefits of international
exchanges, lesson ideas and more. For further
information: http://nnell.org/current_issue.php
Learning Languages »
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| Grant and Teacher Opportunities |
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Here is an opportunity to create internationally
themed schools:
Smaller Learning Communities Grants: The
Federal Government has announced this year's smaller
learning communities grants with a deadline of June 26.
Grantees are authorized to use their funds to, among
other things: (1) study the feasibility of creating smaller
learning communities; (2) research, develop, and
implement strategies for creating smaller learning
communities; (3) provide professional development for
school staff in the teaching methods that would be
used in the smaller learning community; and (4) develop
and implement strategies to include parents, business
representatives, community-based organizations, and
other community members in the activities of the
smaller learning communities. For more information:
http://www.ed.gov/programs/slcp/index.html
Call for Middle and High School Teachers to
Test-Pilot Materials on Asia: The TeachAsia
Program at Asia Society is seeking teachers to
test-pilot a series of print curriculum units being
developed at Asia Society on the topic of
Interweaving Cultures: Islam in Southeast Asia.
We are seeking to have the materials test-piloted at a
mix of middle and high schools across the country,
including rural, urban, suburban, public, independent
and religious schools. The multi-disciplinary materials
need to be piloted in English language arts, social
studies, art, geography, history, religions, sociology,
psychology and music classes. This project provides an
honorarium of $200 per teacher. Please contact Lili
Cole at lcole@asiasoc.org or 212-327-9353.
SLC Grants »
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| College Board and Confucius Institutes Partner with China to Build Chinese Language Programs Across United States |
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On April 19, the College Board and China's national
Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language
(Hanban) announced the new Chinese Language and
Culture Initiative. The initiative will address the critical
shortage of teachers of Chinese in the United States,
and support U.S. schools wishing to begin new Chinese
Language and Culture programs.
Specifically, the initiative will:
*Bring 150 guest teachers from China to
American classrooms
*Provide financial assistance to nearly 300
American teacher-candidates in support of their efforts
to attain state certification to teach Chinese
*Support the development of instructional
materials from elementary school through Advanced
Placement courses
*Support nearly 2,000 schools in the
introduction or expansion of their Chinese programs.
The University of Kansas and the Chicago Public School
system, officially opened Confucius Institutes this
month. Two others are currently open in the United
States at the Unversity of Maryland and the China
Institute in New York. Michigan State University has
signed an agreement to open the fifth Institute.
Confucius Institutes will provide a variety of language
instruction and cultural outreach programs in
communities.
College Board
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