Gene Wilhoit
Vivien Stewart
Executive Director Council of Chief State School Ocers
Vice President, Education Asia Society
For more information or to download this report, please visit:
www.AsiaSociety.org/Education and www.CCSSO.org
Introduction: The Global Imperative
Across the United States, states are grappling with the question of how to produce workers who can be competitive in the 21st century global economy. A converging set of powerful economic, technological, demographic, and national security developments requires a citizenry and workforce that are far more internationally knowledgeable, competent, and adept in world languages and cultures — able both to compete and to collaborate internationally. Education is at the core of our response to globalization. What are the Challenges that Require a Citizenry with International Knowledge and Skills
Global Economy: Today, goods and services move seamlessly across borders. Already, one in ve U.S. jobs is tied to international trade1 and the economies of China, India, and Japan, which represented 18 percent of the world's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2004, are expected to represent 50 percent of the world's GDP within 30 years.2 The majority of future growth for small, medium, and large businesses is overseas. According to the Committee for Economic Development, a non-prot organization of more than 200 business leaders and university presidents, "to compete successfully in the global marketplace, both U.S.-based multinational corporations as well as small businesses, increasingly need employees with knowledge of foreign languages and cultures to market products to customers around the globe and to work eectively with foreign employees and partners in other countries."3 Security and Global Citizenship: Today the world is interconnected as never before. Every major issue faced by the United States has an international dimension — from environmental degradation and global warming, to pandemic diseases, to energy and water shortages, to terrorism and weapons proliferation. The eects of poverty, injustice, and lack of education elsewhere spill across borders. What we do aects others and the actions of others aect us. The only way to solve today's challenges will be through international collaboration among governments and organizations of all kinds. U.S. graduates will need language and cross-cultural communication skills to be eective problem-solvers in today's global context. U.S. citizens will also increasingly vote and act on issues requiring greater knowledge of the world. Cultural Diversity within the United States: Not only will U.S. citizens need to work with citizens of other countries, but increasingly interact and work with people from vastly dierent backgrounds and cultures within their own communities. From 1993–2003, the population of minority students enrolled in U.S. public schools increased from 34 percent to 41 percent. The public school systems of California, Hawaii, Texas, and Washington D.C. enroll more than 60 percent minority populations, while the minority enrollments in Arizona, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, and New Mexico, all exceed 50 percent.4 Even small towns in the South are experiencing increased diversity with new populations from Asia and Latin America.

上一页下一页