More Resources International Education Week Remarks by Secretary

Saying the U.S. Department of Education must nurture relationships with other countries and improve international studies in our schools, U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige today outlined his agency's new priorities for International Education and unveiled new initiatives to help achieve his goals.

Paige made the announcement in a speech to the States Institute on International Education in the Schools -- one of many events taking place throughout this week in celebration of International Education Week.

Paige outlined four policy priorities for the U.S. Department of Education:

• Increasing U.S. knowledge and expertise about other regions, cultures, languages and international issues;

• Sharing with other countries information about U.S. education policies and practices, providing leadership on education issues and working with international partners on initiatives of common benefit;

• Learning more about the effective practices and policies of other countries to improve teaching and learning in the United States; and

• Supporting U.S. foreign and economic policy by strengthening relationships with other countries and promoting U.S. education.

We are ever mindful of the lessons of Sept. 11 -- one of which is that all future measures of a rigorous K-12 education must include a solid grounding in other cultures, other languages and other histories," Paige said.  "In other words, we need to put the 'world' back into 'world-class' education.

"Our new focus will help us build on an already strong foundation of relationships with other countries and equip our children with the skills and knowledge they'll need to be responsible members of the world community."

Paige announced that he will seek new or build on existing legislative authority to support international education in our K-12 schools through partnerships with colleges and universities, and will partner with states to provide new resources in support of high-quality, K-12 programs that provide international knowledge and skills in our nation's classrooms.

"International education shouldn't be an add-on.  International content can be integrated into the teaching of many subjects," Paige said. "When children read stories, some should be by and about people in other countries.  Students in dual language immersion programs often study some of their math, science and other lessons in that language. 

"They are building skills in both English and another languages at the same time that they are learning subject-matter content.  Some children in our country are learning these skills, but many more could -- and should -- learn them."

Paige also announced that he will create a new recognition program to honor teachers whose outstanding work helps our young people understand world issues and other countries, cultures and languages.

These new programs build on an already strong base of international education programs and outreach at the department that focus on many areas, including special education, postsecondary education, education statistics, federal student aid and school safety.

Paige highlighted his department's work on migrant education issues with the Mexican government; the U.S.-China eLanguage project that harnesses the power of technology to help teach English and Chinese to students in both countries; and the Friendship through Education program, which was launched to enable American children and children in predominately Muslim countries to communicate and work together on classroom projects.

Tomorrow, the department and the government of the United Kingdom (U.K.) will begin the "U.S.-U.K. Dialogue: A New Vision of Citizenship."  Policymakers, practitioners and researchers from the United States and the U.K. will share ways to engage young people in making a difference in their communities.

Next week, Secretary Paige will join Secretary of State Colin Powell and other cabinet secretaries for the annual U.S. Mexico-Binational Commission Meeting.  Paige will discuss with his colleague, Mexico's Education Secretary Reyes Tamez, ways both countries can strengthen their work together in areas such as migrant education, English and Spanish language acquisition, teacher exchanges, distance education, special education, adult and vocational education and higher education.

International Education Week is a joint initiative of the U.S. departments of State and Education to promote programs that prepare Americans for a global environment and attract future leaders from abroad to study, learn and exchange experiences in the United States.

The States Institute on International Education in the Schools is sponsored by the National Coalition on Asia and International Studies in the Schools, the National Governors Association, Asia Society, the Council of Chief State School Officers and the Education Commission of the States.

For more information about International Education Week 2002, please visit http://exchanges.state.gov/iew/.

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