EDUCATION REPORT – September 5, 2002: Schools Around the World
By Jerilyn Watson
This is the VOA Special English Education Report.
Teachers in eight nations and Hong Kong are taking part in an unusual exchange of
information. They are sharing excellent work by their students in mathematics and
science. The program is called Schools Around the World.
Teachers taking part in the program use computer technology to exchange work by
students. One goal is to develop and continue student excellence in mathematics and
science. Another is to improve the skills of teachers in the program. A national
organization called the Council for Basic Education in Washington, D.C. operates
Schools Around the World.
Carol Stoel (STOLE) directs the program. She says about five-hundred teachers are involved in Schools Around
the World. These teachers take part in the program after being trained.
Schools Around the World enables educators separated by distance to communicate by computer. They increase
knowledge about the subjects they teach. They also learn new ways of measuring student learning and progress.
Schools Around the World committee members meet two times each year to help guide the organization.
Members are from Australia, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Japan, Portugal, Britain, the United States
and Hong Kong. The United States Department of Education helps support the program. So do large companies
and organizations like the Knight Foundation.
The program also helps organize programs in schools and groups of schools in the United States. About twenty
teachers from the same school often form a group to hold meetings. The head of the school and mathematics and
science supervisors also attend these workshops.
Group members read student work provided through information bases on the Internet or on CD-ROMs.
Members then examine their own educational goals. They consider the work they give students to reach those
goals. They judge how well their students perform.
The teachers also exchange suggestions about methods and materials. They comment on the effectiveness of each
other’s teaching.Educators who have been in the program praise Schools Around the World for helping them
improve their skills.
You can find out more about Schools Around the World by visiting its Web site. The address is www.s-a-w.org.
Again, the address: w-w-w dot s-hyphen-a-hyphen-w dot o-r-g.
This VOA Special English Education Report was written by Jerilyn Watson.
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