International Education

In the United States, which has a strong tradition of local political control of education and a longstanding commitment to public schools as a primary institution for cultural integration, the role of international education in preserving ethnic identity and language has been minimal. Rarely have immigrant groups established their own educational systems, and the few traditionally defined private international schools that have developed culturally specific programs have generally served small, elite populations of globally migratory families. However, international education programs and philosophies have, in a few cases, offered minority communities an opportunity to maintain and strengthen their identity. The U.S. government has used international education programs as a tool for minority-focused, comprehensive school reform and desegregation. Increasingly, the aims of multicultural and intercultural education are becoming difficult to distinguish—at both the elementary/secondary and postsecondary levels.

A rapid increase in the number of U.S. charter schools since 1991 has offered communities and local activists opportunities to develop internationally focused programs that provide advanced educational options for minority groups. In East

Los Angeles, urban Atlanta, and inner-city Chicago, schools offer community-based internationalized alternative schools that affirm ethnic identity, preserve indigenous language, or seek to build racially balanced specialized learning communities. Forty-one states make provisions for charter schools.

Two U.S. Department of Education grant programs provide incentives to implement international education programs that serve the interests of minority students in 14 states. Beginning in 1965, the Magnet Schools Assistance Program (MSAP) has offered federal support for implementing court-ordered and voluntary desegregation plans to foster meaningful interaction among students of different racial and ethnic backgrounds in order to improve equal access to high-quality education (20 U.S.C. 7231–7231j, incorporated into Public Law 107–110 [No Child Left Behind Act], Title V/Part C). As early as 1998, international magnet programs received start-up funding as part of various comprehensive school reform initiatives.

In 2004, almost two-thirds of magnet school assistance grants were devoted to international education (mostly for the implementation of elementary and middle school programs developed by the International Baccalaureate Organization). In 2010, 23 public school systems received more than $125 million to initiate district programs that included international education. Even after the MSAP revised its terms of reference after Parents United, it continued funding for 35 grantees and made two additional awards, one of which supported an International Baccalaureate (IB) program.