K-12 Education

The University: Experience and Qualifications

Since its founding in 1855 as the first land grant university in the U.S., Michigan State University has adhered to its original mission: to “strive to discover practical uses for theoretical knowledge, and to speed the diffusion of information to residents of the state, the nation, and the world.” In operational terms, MSU has concentrated on building its strengths in educating and training succeeding generations of researchers both from the U.S. and the world at large. It has sought to establish collaborative links with people and institutions worldwide, broadening its research, academic and service outreach.

MSU is recognized as a center of excellence in international development. The academic and professional community at Michigan State is highly diverse and responsive and augments the University’s international goals with a broad array of globally relevant skills and expertise. People from every county in Michigan, every state in the U.S. and 134 countries around the world contribute to the University’s success. Annually, more than 3500 international students and scholars enroll in MSU’s graduate and undergraduate and certificate programs. MSU plays host to hundreds of international visitors every year who come to view campus research facilities, participate in campus life as visiting scholars and specialists, or to meet with MSU colleagues. Hundreds of MSU faculty members are engaged in critical outreach programs in many countries throughout the world, teaching, conducting research or providing technical assistance.

For more than 50 years, Michigan State University has been a leader among U.S. universities in international development programs. MSU has had a broad and deepening involvement in conducting technical assistance and research in developing countries, assisting the development of new institutions, and providing training for development tasks. MSU, through its Departments and Institutes and Centers, has also managed projects throughout the world, providing short- and long-term in-country technical assistance, degree and non-degree training programs, and extensive backstopping support from the main campus. The Office of the Dean of International Studies and Programs has overall responsibility for the university’s international initiatives. While historically a majority of MSU’s international development and technical assistance projects have been conducted by faculty in various departments of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, international expertise is increasingly incorporated into all aspects of university life marking MSU as a global university.

The Office of Contract and Grant Administration (CGA) holds fiscal audit authority and responsibility for the MSU contractual portfolio with both domestic and international external donors. In fiscal 2006-2007 awards for sponsored projects reached $308 million. To ensure that MSU is aware of, and can comply with the various agency regulations, CGA is organized by funding agency. CGA has a separate group dedicated to administration of international projects.

At MSU, the Office of International Studies in Education was established in 1984 to promote an international dimension in all aspects of College of Education research, teaching and service. In seeking a comparative understanding of educational policies, institutions and practices, MSU’s goal is to find ways to enhance the learning of children, teachers and other adults in the US while contributing to the worldwide effort of educators to meet the economic, environmental, social, cultural and political challenges of our time. Much attention has been to globalization.

The College has become an institution widely recognized for both its work in education in developing countries and for its educational research on what industrialized countries can learn from one another. Currently the College has major projects in a number of key countries: China, Egypt, India and Vietnam. Faculty have done substantial work over the last decade in a growing number of countries: Algeria, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, Guinea, Indonesia, Mexico, Mozambique, Myanmar, South Africa, Thailand, and Zimbabwe. The College’s international experience is enriched by international master’s and doctoral students in education who come from 30-40 countries throughout the world.

MSU won the 2004 Goldman Sachs Foundation Higher Education Prize for Excellence in International Education. This higher education award was received by MSU as a “higher education institution that shows exceptional commitment to promoting K-16 international knowledge and skills through its teacher preparation program or through ongoing partnerships with local school to introduce international content.”

MSU faculty’s areas of international strength include the following:

• TIMSS-type IEA multinational research on curricula, teaching and learning (especially mathematics, science and civic education)
• Other international research and outreach to improve the teaching of mathematics and science
• Technical assistance and applied research to support primary and secondary school improvement in developing countries
• International research and development using innovative pedagogy and new forms of school-community relations to address issues of environmental education and community development
• International research on teacher learning and professional development
• International research and outreach to help educators understand and use technology and to make available needed on-line resources
• International research on school choice, decentralization and educational finance
• International research on higher education (especially in Africa)

Internationalization in professional development for K-12 teachers and administrators

Several current initiatives cater to the internationalization of experienced K-12 teachers and administrators.

International online teacher resources

MSU’s area studies centers have developed an array of free online curricular materials and background resources for K-12 teachers to use (www.isp.msu.edu/resources/web). Three of these websites are region oriented: Exploring Africa from the African Studies Center; LASER, Latin American Schools and Educational Resources from the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, and Windows on Asia from the Asian Studies Center. The African site was the first to be developed as an initiative under the leadership of John Metzler, Director of Outreach for the African Studies Center. All three sites were developed by faculty experts in consultation with area teachers. In addition to general background information on their respective regions and the countries in them, they provide access to current news and offer a variety of special features. All of them offer curricular materials such as lesson plans for teachers to use in their classrooms. They also provide links to select external resources of many kinds.