Dear Reader,

This will be the last newsletter that you will receive from our Washington State Coalition for International Education for the foreseeable future. This newsletter is to pause and reflect on what we have accomplished. It is also to let you know of the relationship between the Coalition and Global Washington and how to stay connected to all the amazing organizations, people, and events in our region committed to learning, exchange, and the betterment of our world.

Do stay connected.
 
-Washington State Coalition for International Education

How Far We've Come!

In the last six years, with the help of six State Innovations Grants and with a great deal of volunteer time, we have worked to build synergy and connection around the need to internationalize education for students in Washington state, from preschool through graduate school. We have leveraged the money from the six grants to support a myriad of projects in Puget Sound and around our state that support this mission.

International Education Summits

On September 19, 2003, the Coalition held its first P-20 International Education Summit: Teaching and Learning in a Global Community. (See 2003 Summit Report (PDF).) Out of that grew several priorities, including: integrating international education into all aspects of Social Studies and other school subjects, starting in elementary school; increasing teacher knowledge and experience of global perspectives; providing state-level coordination and support for World Languages K-12; and coordinating efforts in international education between K-12 schools and higher education.

We held our second International Education Summit: Building Global Relationships in Olympia on October 27, 2004, engaging in the process more leaders in government and business. (See 2004 Summit Report (PDF).) Out of that summit, we heard an overwhelming consensus for the continuation and expansion of the World Languages Survey. The work on the survey was transformed into the Mapping and Enhancing Language Learning (MELL) project representing a first step to help us get a better picture of what languages students are currently learning in our K-12 schools and community language programs. MELL is undertaken by four National Resource Centers at the University of Washington's Jackson School of International Studies. Though the grant ends this year, funding is anticipated for ongoing work on MELL.

On January 30, 2006, we held our third International Education Leadership Summit: Expanding Chinese Language Capacity in Washington State. (See 2006 Summit Report (PDF).) Out of this summit grew the Expanding Chinese Language Capacity Initiative with the goal of 10% of Washington students learning Chinese by 2015, a Chinese Language Core Team in support of this initiative, and a website (www.cltn-wa.org) to support the growing network of teachers involved in teaching Chinese.

On November 6, 2008, the Coalition cosponsored the first World Languages Summit: PK-20 Pathways to Language Learning. For copies of presentations and handouts, see: http://depts.washington.edu/mellwa/Events.php.

Advocacy

The Coalition engaged in an advocacy strategy that was both broad-based in its constituency through a designated Advocacy email list and one that narrowly focused on common and achievable outcomes and included speaking before the Washington State Legislature to advocate for key legislation. It is this work which eventually led to the Legislature approving the position of World Languages Program Supervisor at OSPI in 2008 for the first time in nearly 20 years. Advocacy e-alerts continue on with the leadership of Global Washington and Bridges to Understanding.

Professional Development

The Coalition has worked with Seattle Public Schools, Bridges to Understanding, and iEARN to give teachers greater professional development opportunities so that they can continue to innovate and bring exciting global learning opportunities to their students. In addition, out of grant money, the Coalition has leveraged the State Teacher of the Year Award, by providing an international education scholarship to the winning teacher for four years.  Global Washington continued this tradition for the 2009 Teacher of the Year.

Website and Email Lists

Besides the many events and projects we have initiated and supported, we have also been able to maintain a website, www.internationaledwa.org, send out a newsletter, and maintain several email lists, including ones for Languages, Chinese, Advocacy, and News in general.

Thank you for your ongoing commitment to international education these past six years. We hope to see you at future events.

What's Next?

In the past few months, Global Washington (www.globalwa.org) has begun to take on a more direct leadership role in bringing the international education community together, as part of their broader mission to support and promote the global development sector in Washington. They will be handling event listings, maintaining email lists, and they will be adding an international education component to their newsletter in the future.

The website, www.internationaledwa.org, will remain a repository of information, but will not be updated regularly at this time.

Events

Global Washington maintains an active calendar of events of interest to the global education community, as well as the broader development community: www.globalwa.org/events.
Please email: events@globalwa.org if you have an Event or Announcement you want to post on that calendar.

Announcements, Newsletter, and Email Lists

If you have been on the Coalition or Advocacy lists, we have passed those lists on to Global Washington. You will not need to sign up again to receive their newsletter, advocacy e-alerts, or Languages related emails. If you would like to be included moving forward on any of these lists, please use the following contacts:

admin@globalwa.org: Global Washington puts out a monthly newsletter that covers an array of topics and event related to global development, including international education. Please sign up for the newsletter or submit your annoucements to this email.

info@globalwa.org: To be an active advocate for International Education in Washington state, please sign up for the Advocacy email list.

michele.aoki@k12.wa.us: To receive emails about Languages-- Learning and Teaching, please sign up for the Languages email list.

Announcements

Nominate a Teacher for the 2009-2010 World Educator Award!
Deadline: June 1, 2009

Each year, the World Affairs Council honors a local educator who has contributed exceptionally to broadening the global horizons of students and colleagues. We invite you to nominate a candidate for the Council's 2009-2010 World Educator Award.

Get Global 2009
May 23, 2009

OneWorld Now! will present the Fourth Annual Get Global Conference designed to give students, educators and non-profit innovators the opportunity to discuss and take action regarding the role of youth leadership in international affairs. For more information: www.oneworldnow.org/getglobal.htm.

The Washington State Coalition for International Education was formed in 2003 out of a focus group on international education. It has been a volunteer run, grassroots affiliation of over 300 individuals and organizations committed to preparing all students for today's interconnected world.