SD40 - The Feasibility of Establishing a Student Exchange Program With Japan

  • Published: 1993
  • Author: Department of Education
  • Enabling Authority: Senate Joint Resolution 99 (Regular Session, 1992)

Executive Summary:
The 1992 General Assembly, at the request of chief patron Senator Benjamin Lambert, passed Senate Joint Resolution 99 requesting the Department of Education to study the feasibility of a student exchange program with Japan. The Department of Education formed a team to review existing travel abroad programs to Japan and other countries provided by national organizations, councils, or agencies for Virginia's students. The Department's team also contacted selected state education agencies and selected local social studies or foreign language specialists in order to review a wide range of existing opportunities for student exchange programs.

Historical background shows increasing student travel abroad. Numerous organizations reacted to interest in student travel by developing tours or exchange programs to foreign countries. The AFS Intercultural Programs, American International Youth Student Exchange Program, The Experiment in International Living, Rotary International Youth Exchange, and Youth for Understanding are examples of the 63 organizations named in the 1992 Advisory List 'of International Educational Travel and Exchange Programs published by the Council on Standards for International Educational Travel. Virginia's students participate frequently in these tours during the summer months or during semester breaks.

Within local school divisions, student travel abroad usually is arranged by teachers through private organizations. According to .a recent study by the Foreign Language Service of the Department of Education, each year Virginia's foreign language teachers lead more than 2,000 students on tours of foreign countries. Several school divisions directly sponsor their own student trips abroad. Other school divisions encourage one-year student exchanges between schools abroad or support the enrollment of foreign students in the local division.

The Virginia Department of Education has developed a wide range of opportunities for students to increase their awareness, understanding, and abilities in the area of developing international perspectives. Within the current Social Studies Standards of Learning Objectives for grades K-12, 71 of the 154 objectives support international outlooks. Likewise, the Foreign Language Standards of Learning Objectives promote international awareness. As the Department continues to develop the components of the World Class Education initiative, students will demonstrate individual and shared responsibilities in the local and global community.

The Department also sponsors specific programs with international segments. For three years, the Department offered a two week summer residential program for rising seventh and eighth grade students that duplicated the daily school life of a Japanese child. Virginia students learned Japanese language and participated in many cultural activities. For gifted students enrolled in two Governor's Schools at the University of Richmond, extensive summer programs explore international connections in both the humanities and the visual and performing arts. The Congress-Bundestag program is open to students in Virginia and several other states and provides full scholarships for advanced study in German professional and technical schools to high school seniors who have completed a vocational program. The Governor's Foreign Language Academy Program is unique and has received national recognition. During a month of summer study, students speak exclusively the language they are studying and explore the culture related to the language. Total immersion academies in German, French, and Spanish have been conducted since 1986. Other academies in Japanese, Russian, and Latin expose students to nontraditional language and culture. Plans are currently underway to include 25 students from Japan in the 1993 summer Japanese Academy.

Numerous opportunities for student travel abroad through national organizations or locally initiated programs currently exist for Virginia's students. Given these opportunities and state budgetary constraints, the Department of Education team studying the feasibility of student exchanges with Japan and other countries recommends that the Department continue to concentrate on the development of the major components of a world class system of education. It is the understanding of the team that the components of the world class system of education promote international awareness. The team, therefore, recommends that the Department of Education not sponsor student trips abroad at this time. The team recommends that the. Department review other methods for developing international perspectives In the student population. These might include, but may not be limited to, the use of satellite technology, computer linkages, or teacher exchange programs. If student travel abroad becomes central to a world class education, then the Department may want to re-examine its position on sponsoring student trips. The recommendation of the team should be regarded as a team position that may be adapted as needed.