During November’s International Education Week, the U.S. Department of Education released its revised international education strategy, “Succeeding Globally through International Education and Engagement,” which starts with the following paragraph: “Today more than ever, an effective domestic education agenda must aim to develop a globally and culturally competent citizenry. It is not enough to focus solely on reading, writing, mathematics, and science skills. Today’s world also requires critical thinking and creativity to solve complex problems, well-honed communication skills, the ability to speak world languages, and advanced mathematics, science, and technical skills.”
Through the new policy guidelines, the department stresses the value of world language education and acknowledges that students must “anticipate and adapt” by mastering “broadly transferable and versatile competencies” like “cultural intelligences,” but there is no mention of funding increases to support world language education.
The report is available at https://sites.ed.gov/international/files/2018/11/Succeeding-Globally-Through-International-Education-and-Engagement-Update-2018.pdf.
