American Students Need a Global Education, Charities Tell Obama

Amid growing concern that American students lack the skills to succeed in a global work force, a group of charities is urging President-elect Barack Obama to help schools prepare young people for a world in which U.S. businesses and governments are less isolated from, and more dependent on, other nations.

Led by the Asia Society, the group of charities is calling on Mr. Obama to improve teaching of other cultures and economies, to provide more instruction in foreign languages, and to incorporate global issues into classroom lessons.

“Steering our nation out of the financial crisis we now face requires investing in an internationally competent workforce,” said Vivien Stewart, vice president for education at the Asia Society, a nonprofit educational-research group in New York.

“Our long-term comprehensiveness in a global economy depends on our willingness to reinvent education for a new era,” Ms. Stewart said in a statement. “As never before, American education must prepare students for a world where the opportunities for success require the ability to compete and collaborate on a global scale.”

The Asia Society and six national education groups presented a report, Putting the World Class into World Class Education, to members of Congress and the Obama administration.

Specific proposals include providing states with incentives to compare their educational standards with those in other countries, helping teachers understand and communicate the international dimensions of their subjects, and expanding federal programs that give students exposure to foreign cultures and countries.

The proposals come amid some uncertainty over Mr. Obama’s plans for education. Mr. Obama has yet to announce who will serve as secretary of education in his administration, and on Sunday, The New York Times reported that many people who work in education wonder if Mr. Obama will side with those who want to curb the power of teachers’ unions, or with those more focused on rewriting the No Child Left Behind legislation and who emphasize helping teachers become more qualified.