Districts around the country recognize that in the 21st century, international knowledge and skills are a necessity for every child. My colleague Heather Singmaster and The Longview Foundation’s Jennifer Manise convene state policymakers and district leaders around this issue and assist them in aligning best practices. Here, Heather shares some of the group’s findings.
Districts around the country recognize that in the 21st century, international knowledge and skills are a necessity for every child. In order to be able to embrace new opportunities and address critical challenges, students must be globally competent: They must have the capacity and disposition to understand and act on issues of global significance.
This was the conversation among education leaders—district supervisors and state policymakers—convened by Asia Society and Longview Foundation. Over the course of several months, the group shared vision statements and best practices. The result?
A Global Competence Planning Rubric for school districts. The Rubric focuses on four areas key to the development of global competence:
Leadership/Building a Foundation Resources Professional Development Curriculum and Instruction
Building global competence into all pK-12 schools throughout a district is a complex process that requires the engagement of the education, government, and business sectors, in addition to nonprofit, community, and parent organizations. The specific shape of any global learning initiative will depend on the state’s and district’s education structures and resources. But communities can make it happen and we hope the rubric can assist districts in making a concrete plan of action to do so.
See examples of district reforms on this website.