EDUCATION: FOREIGN LANGUAGE STUDIES

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BUSINESS AND ACADEMIC LEADERS ENDORSE CED FOREIGN LANGUAGE STUDIES PROJECT
76 CED Trustees and colleagues support effort to close language gap

CED continues to push for improved foreign language education in the United States. An influential group of seventy-six leaders from business and higher education have officially endorsed the recommendations (below) of the 2006 CED statement, Education for Global Leadership: The Importance of International Studies and Foreign Language Education for U. S. Economic and National Security. That report warns that the U.S. will become less competitive in the global economy because of declining quality foreign language education at the college and high school level. Additionally, the American public’s deficiency in foreign languages and cultures is hampering efforts to counter terrorist threats. In the words of the CED statement, “in order to confront the twenty-first century challenges to our economy and national security, our education system must be strengthened to increase the foreign language skills and cultural awareness of our students. America’s continued role as a global leader will depend on our students’ abilities to interact with the world community both inside and outside our borders.

Recommendations in Education for Global Leadership:

• Teaching international content across the curriculum and at all levels of learning to expand American students’ knowledge of other countries and cultures.
• Expanding the training pipeline at every level of education to address the paucity of Americans fluent in foreign languages, especially critical, less-commonly taught languages.
• National leaders – political leaders as well as the business and philanthropic communities and the media – should educate the public about the importance of improving education in languages other than English and in international studies.

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EDUCATION FOR GLOBAL LEADERSHIP: THE IMPORTANCE OF INTERNATIONAL STUDIES AND FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATION FOR U.S. ECONOMIC AND NATIONAL SECURITY

On February 9, 2006, CED released a new report — Education for Global Leadership: The Importance of International Studies and Foreign Language Education for U.S. Economic and National Security — focused on improving foreign language education and international studies for U.S. students.

The report was released at a Washington DC luncheon forum that featured speeches by Senator Norm Coleman of Minnesota, Senator Paul Sarbanes of Maryland, and Congressman Rush Holt of New Jersey.

The Honorable John Brademas, President Emeritus, New York University, Alfred T. Mockett, Chairman & CEO, Corinthian Capital, and CED President Charles E.M. Kolb presented the findings and recommendations of the CED report.

The release event was held at the Washington Court Hotel on Capitol Hill and featured a panel discussion with: The Honorable David S.C. Chu, Under Secretary for Personnel & Readiness, Department of Defense; Barbara Chow, Vice President, Education and Children's Programs, National Geographic Society; and Ambassador Michael Lemmon, Faculty Advisor, National War College.

John Brademas, Charles Kolb, and Alfred Mockett are the co-chairs of CED's Subcommittee on International Education and Foreign Language Studies, the subcommittee responsible for this report.

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CED TESTIFIES BEFORE U.S. SENATE

On Thursday, January 25th, Michael Petro, CED Vice President and Director of Business and Government Policy testified before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia Hearing, “Lost in Translation: A Review of the Federal Government’s Efforts to Develop a Foreign Language Strategy.” Petro delivered CED’s policy stance on foreign languages, “Education for Global Leadership: The Importance of International Studies and Foreign Language Education for U.S. Economic and National Security.” To read further testimony presented before the subcommittee click here.

Senator Voinovich opened the hearing by stating, "I am deeply concerned that Americans are lagging behind much of the world in critical foreign languages, cultural awareness, and geographic knowledge. This lag can negatively impact our nation in very real ways, such as losing valuable business opportunities overseas, faulty intelligence from failing to promptly translate critical documents, or of misunderstandings in diplomatic communications."

View CED's statement to the Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management here: http://hsgac.senate.gov/_files/testimonypetroced.pdf.

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EVENTS ON THE IMPORTANCE OF INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION AND FOREIGN LANGUAGE INSTRUCTION

New York, NY
CED partnered with the John Brademas Center for the Study of Congress to host a May 16, 2006 luncheon discussion on the importance of international education. Speakers, including CED President Charles Kolb, highlighted CED's new policy statement, Education for Global Leadership: The Importance of International Studies and Foreign Language Education for U.S. Economic and National Security.

The forum, which took place at New York University, featured a keynote address from Tracy Wolstencroft, Managing Director, Goldman, Sachs & Co. The panel discussion included remarks from Barbara Chow, Vice President, Education and Children's Programs, National Geographic Society, Dr. Farhad Kazemi, Director, Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies and Professor of Middle Eastern Government and Politics, New York University, and John Brademas, President Emeritus, New York University and Co-Chair of CED's Subcommittee on International Education and Foreign Language Studies.

Visit the John Brademas Center for the Study of Congress for more information.

Menlo Park, CA
As a follow up to the release of CED's report Education for Global Leadership: The Importance of International Studies and Foreign Language Education for U.S. Economic and National Security, CED partnered with the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Asia Society to host a roundtable discussion examining the possibilities for improving international education in California schools. The forum was held on Thursday, February 16, 2006 at the Hewlett Foundation in Menlo Park, CA.

The forum featured remarks from panelists Milton Chen, Executive Director, George Lucas Educational Foundation; Jane Wales, President and CEO, World Affairs Council of Northern California; Bess Stephens, Vice President and Global Director, Philanthropy and Education, Hewlett-Packard Company; and Yvonne Chan, Member, California State Board of Education and Principal, Vaughn Next Century Learning Center. Vivien Stewart, Vice President of Education for The Asia Society addressed what policies other states are implementing and Charles Kolb, President of CED discussed the findings of CED's report.

The roundtable, which attracted over forty of California's leading advocates for increased international education, policy makers, academics and business leaders, focused on the need for California to lead the nation in providing its students with strong international studies and foreign language education. Due to California's ethnically diverse population and ever increasing integration with the world economy, the group agreed that more needs to be done to integrate international studies into all aspects of public education.