Introduction
Four years ago the National Commission on Asia in the Schools issued its report, Asia in the Schools: Preparing Young Americans for Today’s Interconnected World, which concluded, “young Americans are dangerously uninformed about international matters, especially Asia, home to more than 60 percent of the world’s population.” Twenty-five percent of college-bound high school students did not know the name of the ocean that separates the United States from Asia, and 80 percent did not know that India is the world’s largest democracy. The report also revealed that we are not training teachers to understand the international dimensions of their subjects and that language instruction does not reflect today’s realities. For example, fewer than 50,000 U.S. students study Chinese, a language spoken by almost 1.3 billion people. The report generated widespread interest and made it clear that the international knowledge gap was to be ignored at our peril.
In 2002, Asia Society formed the National Coalition on Asia and International Studies in the Schools, a group of more than thirty national education, policy, business, and media organizations committed to building awareness about the importance of international knowledge and skills to our economic prosperity and national security.
As co-chairs of the National Coalition, we are delighted to report on the accelerating growth of an international education movement across America in the past four years. A landmark in the growth of interest in this critical issue was the first States Institute on International Education in the Schools in 2002, co-sponsored by the National Coalition, Council of Chief State School Officers, Education Commission of the States, National Association of State Boards of Education, National Conference of State Legislatures, and National Governors Association, which drew teams designated by the governors of twenty-two states. Subsequent annual States Institutes have reached over 300 leaders in more than thirty-five states. We are delighted that the Business Roundtable and Committee for Economic Development joined as co-sponsors this year.
State leaders who attended the Institutes recognized the pressing need to begin preparing their students for the global age and have developed statewide initiatives that have accomplished much in just three years. Outlined in the opening essay by Edward B. Fiske, former Education Editor of the New York Times, are leadership initiatives that hold real promise: Governor’s task forces, legislation and policy statements, summits, public surveys, professional development initiatives, revisions of high school graduation requirements, innovative uses of technology, and other curriculum reforms. Profiles of the seventeen states provide examples of new programs that can be scaled up, as well as the gaps in our knowledge that must be
addressed.
Across the U.S., individual schools have also begun to embrace the challenge of preparing students with new skills for our global age. Examples of local models of excellence are documented in the report. These schools, which have been identified through the Goldman Sachs Foundation Prizes for Excellence in International Education, show how educators at all levels can bring the world into their classrooms. In addition, we have included in each state profile a list of schools that are beginning to integrate international content in their curriculum, so that other interested educators can find examples closer at hand.
A movement to prepare our young people to succeed in the global marketplace and to become informed global citizens has begun. We thank the Ford, Goldman Sachs, Longview, and Starr Foundations for their far-sighted support of this critical emerging field. However, this is just the beginning. Political, business, education, and media leaders in states and at the national level must build on the important progress chronicled here. The U.S. will be less competitive and less secure if our schools do not urgently expand instruction in world languages, economics, and cultures. “States Prepare for the Global Age” makes it abundantly clear: knowledge of the world is no longer a luxury for a few, it is a necessity for all.
JAMES B. HUNT, JR.
Former Governor of North Carolina, (1977-1985, 1993-2001)
JOHN M. ENGLER
Former Governor of Michigan, (1991-2003)
Co-Chairs, National Coalition on Asia
and International Studies in the Schools
