District Administration - September 2009 - (Page 62)

curriculum GoinG Global As the 21st-century world gets flatter, districts across the United States are building more internationally oriented curricula and programs. By roN sChaChter Students at Vaughn International Studies Academy, a public charter school within the Los Angeles Unified School District, enrich their global understanding with an innovative curriculum. L ast year, fifthgraders at the herricks Union free school District in New hyde Park, N.y., studied the U.s. presidential primaries while following elections in Zimbabwe, Pakistan and Kenya. at south Brunswick high school in southport, N.C., history students discuss battles of the Civil War via live teleconferences with counterparts in Denmark. Meanwhile the Mathis (texas) independent school District, a rural district of nearly 1,800 students, just hired a Chinese language teacher for the first time. These recent developments, just samples of the more expansive international programs at the respective schools offering them, belong to a movement in a growing number of districts—spurred by national, state and grassroots initiatives— 62 September 2009 to include the larger world in american education. and the times and constituencies they serve are demanding it, some educators say. “Who knew that mortgage foreclosures in New Jersey were going to affect the economy in australia? We’ve seen a much greater recognition of the fact that we need to be a more global society,” says anthony Jackson, vice president for education of the asia society, a New yorkbased organization that over the past decade has helped create the international studies schools Network (issN), which spans six states and encompasses more than a dozen secondary schools-withinschools and magnet schools charged with making K12 students college-ready and competent on the world stage. Jack Bierwirth, superintendent of the herricks Union free school District, adds that parents won’t settle for anything less. “We have an extraordinarily diverse student body,” he explains, noting that 69 different languages are spoken in the homes of the 1,400 students in the district’s high school. “We’ve got kids from romania, Poland, egypt and Kazakhstan, and their parents want their kids to be as aware of the world as they are, and more so, whether in understanding different cultures and histories or in learning to use knowledge in a global context.” in Lee’s summit (Mo.) r-7 school District, just outside of Kansas City, about as far as an american district can be from any foreign country, a homegrown 21stcentury learning initiative—which ranges from expanded foreign language offerings to an international studies academy—is just what the community wanted, says superintendent David McGehee. “There’s a large segment of our demographic who consider themselves global already. it’s District Administration

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - September 2009

District Administration - September 2009
Contents
From the Editor
Letters
News Update
Health Update
Curriculum Update
Stimulus Monitor
Conversations
Administrator Profile
District Profile
Administrator Roles Shift with the Times
Turning Around Schools in Need
Global Learning
Managing Generational Diversity
New Products
Professional Opinion
How Well Does This Web Site Work?
New Books
Tech Disruptions
Online Edge

District Administration - September 2009