A r c h i v e d I n f o r m a t i o n
The Importance of International Education
Today more than ever it is critical for the peoples of the world to learn to understand and respect one another's cultures, languages and beliefs. To succeed in today's global environment, students increasingly need to complement their academic and career learning with the international skills that allow them to understand and work with people from other countries.
International education encompasses foreign language and cultural learning, exposure to global issues and challenges, study and internships abroad, and international exchanges of students, professionals, and ideas in the classroom, in the workplace, and in the virtual world. International education includes learning about effective education policies and practices abroad that we might adapt to improve education at home.
The U.S. Department of Education's international activities help to ensure that policy makers and educators have access to information on educational programs and practices around the world, and to share U.S. educational expertise with colleagues abroad.
We participate in international activities in the following educational areas:
Did you know...
...that according to the first round of results from an international assessment of 15 year old students in 32 countries released December 4, 2001, American students perform at the international average of their peers in reading, science, and mathematics literacy. For an overview of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA ) results from a U.S. perspective please visit the National Center for Education Statistics website at: http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pisa/PISAHighlights.asp
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This page last modified—June 28, 2005 (jer).
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