District Administration - September 2009 - (Page 67)

demonstrations in China’s Tiananmen Square. As part of the project, the students tracked down one of the protest’s student leaders, as well as American governmental officials, including James Baker, Casper Weinberger and George Schultz. “This was more than global awareness. It was having real knowledge flowing back and forth between the world and classrooms,” Bierwirth concludes. “Many other school districts were doing Johnny Appleseed and subjects like that.” Bierwirth adds that the district’s international initiatives—which account annually for about $250,000 of the district’s $87 million budget—usually come from the bottom up, because teachers are encouraged to take risks. For instance, the middle school language department developed the idea of studying the fine arts of a particular country or culture in the languages that students are taking. Starting in 2006, Herricks began evaluating students with the Programme for International Student Assessment’s (PISA) internationally standardized tests, which on the higher grade levels exceed even Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate measures of performance. “If you are serious about having to be compared with the rest of the world, then you need to benchmark yourselves,” Bierwirth explains. Over the past decade in Seattle, students at the John Stamford Elementary School have gone through immersion programs in Spanish, Japanese and Mandarin Chinese covering the first half of the school day. During that time, secondand third-graders may translate what they learn about Africa or South America into their chosen language, and fifth-graders learn some of their U.S. history by visiting Web sites in foreign languages. Through the International Education and Resource Network (iEARN), a nonprofit organization that promotes global collaboration online, Stamford students and teachers connect to a Japanese school and also conduct videoconferences with schools in Spain and Japan. “It becomes www.DistrictAdministration.com really relevant to kids when they can talk in an international direction for the in the target language to other kids their 17,000-student district. “Confucius says own age,” says Karen Kodama, who runs that the journey of 1,000 miles begins Seattle’s International Education pro- with a first step,” he points out. The Asia Society’s Anthony Jackson gram. With an annual waiting list of more than 200 at Stamford, Kodama agrees that implementing a global curopened a second international elemen- riculum can be a gradual process. The organization also runs the Partnership tary school last fall. Meanwhile the Lee’s Summit, Mo., for Global Learning, which has grown district recently embarked on its own to more than 400 teachers and adminisinternational odyssey, dubbed “21st Cen- trators who serve as advocates and early tury Learning.” The new program includes adopters of global learning practices at having visiting teachers from China teach their schools. “The key is to do it in a way that’s three levels of Chinese annually; a course on modern global issues that is required authentic,” Jackson says, “and to go beyond for graduation; and the Summit Interna- having just a festival or a day of foods from tional Academy, with a focus on having its around the world.” DA 20 students conduct problem-solving simwww.DistrictAdministration.com ulations based on international business. Dan Lumley, Lee’s Summit’s director Read about a recent global education summit that inspired governors to get involved. of curriculum and instruction, admits that the combination of new initiatives Ron Schachter is a contributing writer for represents a modest but necessary start District Administration. CEHS FastTrack08 4.75x4.75:CEHS FastTrack 4.75x4.75 11/17/08 2:29 PM Page 1 A FAST TRACK TO A TRADITIONAL ED.D. Seton Hall University’s nationally recognized, accelerated doctoral program will allow you to complete your studies in just 10 weekends and two, four-week sessions over two years. In fact, more than 200 K-12 administrators in 26 states and five foreign countries have already successfully earned their degrees and achieved career advancement. “Starting this program from Canada and finishing from Singapore was possible only because of Seton Hall’s deep commitment to its students. The culture of positive thinking prevails to make possible what sometimes seems impossible.” Glenn Odland, Ed.D. ’08 Head of School Canadian International School, Singapore Now accepting applications for the April 2010 cohort. Loans are available to cover the entire cost of the program regardless of financial need. 400 South Orange Ave. • South Orange, NJ 07079 • www.shu.edu College of Education and Human Services 1-800-313-9833 For more information e-mail execedd@shu.edu or go to www.shu.edu/go/execedd September 2009 67 http://www.DistrictAdministration.com http://www.shu.edu http://www.shu.edu http://www.shu.edu/go/execedd http://www.DistrictAdministration.com

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