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The Kansas Committee on International Education in the Schools (KCIES), a statewide group of policymakers, educators, and representatives of the business community, has promoted the infusion of international content into the K-12 curriculum, raised public awareness of the need for international education, and offered resources for teachers, students, parents, and communities since 2003. Recent activities include: A statewide Kansas Task Force on International Education was formed in 2008 and conducted two surveys in 2009 to create benchmark data on international education activities in the state's schools and identify best practices. A public report, including strategic recommendations, will be released in fall 2009. The third annual statewide summit on International Education and Kansas, this year called the KCIES Forum on Putting the World Into World Class Education, was held on in December 2008 at Washburn University in Topeka. Our theme was best practices in international education and featured case studies from districts (both urban and rural) across the state and from Missouri. Special emphasis was placed on using technology to make connections between districts, schools, and classrooms in Kansas and partners abroad. The 2008-2009 Update on Strategic Languages in Kansas is being compiled and will be available on our website www.KansasintheWorld.org by the end of July 2009. Continuing the trend of the past three years, K-12 enrollments in strategic languages in Kansas continue to surge, with rapid growth in Mandarin Chinese and increasing activity in Arabic.
Contact information: Bill Tsutsui btsutsui@ku.edu
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