Putting the World into World-Class Education:
State Innovations and Opportunities
Preface
Across the country, business, education, and political leaders are grappling with the question of how to produce workers and citizens who can remain competitive in a world that is shrinking before our eyes. Today's students will be working in a global marketplace and living in a globalized society. In order to succeed and become leaders in this new world, they must acquire a far dierent set of knowledge, skills, and perspectives than previous generations. They must be able to compete — but also to cooperate with international peers. As the realization that we need to better prepare our students for these new global realities sets in, states have been working individually and collectively on initiatives to integrate international knowledge and skills into schools. This paper provides examples of state-led innovations to promote international education. It is not intended to be comprehensive but illustrative — drawing from the work of the 25 states that have participated in the States Network on International Education in the Schools. States have sought to raise awareness, identify resources and leaders, and begin to put in place new policies and programs to promote international knowledge and skills. Activities include task forces, statewide summits, reports, surveys, policy statements and legislation, integration of international content into state standards and high school redesign, expansion of world languages, internationalization of teacher preparation and professional development, international benchmarking initiatives, and innovative uses of technology and exchanges. While these activities hold real promise, all states must build on the important progress chronicled here in a more systematic way. This paper is just a beginning; in the future we would like to include policies and programs from all 50 states. States are realizing that they must give all their citizens the tools to succeed and provide leadership in the new global environment. Some states are already making strides in this area — but these eorts need to be expanded and brought to scale. The stakes involved in meeting these challenges could hardly be higher.

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