April 10, 2006	Volume 5, Number 12

Burmaster to keynote International Outreach Conference

Wisconsin’s State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Elizabeth Burmaster, will be the keynote speaker at the upcoming Title VI and Fulbright-Hays National Outreach Conference, as world studies outreach specialists from across the nation come together April 27-29 in Madison.

The conference is intended as a resource for anyone involved with international outreach, especially those professionals who work with the US Department of Education's International Education Programs Service. The panels and presentations at this conference will help strengthen the capability and performance of American education in area, international, and global studies.

Although it will address a variety of outreach constituencies, including business and the general public, the overriding goal of this conference is to facilitate the promotion of learning about world cultures in U.S. schools through increased understanding. Successful outreach models and best practices from all over the U.S. will be presented and discussed, along with approaches appropriate to all world regions and grade levels. While building on the strengths of previous nationwide outreach conferences, this one will bring together not only those working on outreach within institutions of higher education, but also practicing K-12 education professionals from around the U.S., especially teachers. This mingling of outreach experts and education practitioners will create a dynamic environment for the discussion of ideas. Results of the conference will be published and made available to all participants, and will serve as a resource for international outreach professionals for years to come.

Burmaster has been a strong advocate and a national leader on internationalization of curriculum, counting among her staff the nation's first and only continuous full-time international education advisor. In 2002, she initiated a statewide International Education Council, bringing together top business and education leaders to build Wisconsin's international connections. Wisconsin was awarded the prestigious Goldman Sachs Foundation Prize for Excellence in International Education as a result of the efforts to develop a statewide international education focus. The Goldman Sachs Foundation and The Asia Society created the prizes to identify and recognize innovative examples of international education for K-12 students and teachers in the United States. Burmaster also has traveled to Germany, France, Thailand, and Vietnam, leading teacher seminars and developing memoranda of understanding with heads of state to promote international education.

Travel awards are available to support K-12 teacher participation at this conference. To apply for a travel award, see http://wioc.wisc.edu/t6-2006/travel.htm or e-mail sksmith@wisc.edu for details. Recipients will be notified of travel awards prior to the conference; awards will be granted on a cost-reimbursement basis after the conference. Further information about the International Outreach Conference is available at http://wioc.wisc.edu/t6-2006/

Last updated on 4/10/2006