While Northern Iowa's College of Education continues to influence education in Iowa, its faculty and students are expanding their visibility in international education. These initiatives, documented in "Passport to Global Practice Network," were chosen as the 1995-96 distinguished program in international education by the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE).

The College will be honored at the annual AACTE meeting in Chicago in February, 1996; will be included in the AACTE publication Making Connections Between Multicultural and Global Education: A Directory of Teacher Educators and Teacher Education Programs; and will present workshops for other teacher preparation institutions on how to globalize their teacher education curricula.

Joane McKay, College of Education interim associate dean and chair of the report committee, explains, "The global network helps our College achieve its goals of continuous professional education, adding knowledge to our understanding of education, providing diverse opportunities, and networking resources for the enhancement of learning."

The programs highlighted for the award based on exemplary practice include:

• International Student Teaching opportunities in several countries offer Northern Iowa students experience in culturally diverse international settings. The College of Education provides a full-time faculty member to staff the student teaching site in Okinawa, Japan. Students also work with host country schools in Australia, England, Egypt, Italy, and Spain.
• Orava Project in Bratislava, Slovakia, coordinated by two UNI College of Education faculty, is working successfully to restructure Slovak basic schools, renew teacher education programs, and develop and nurture leadership and management skills. One Slovak teacher in the program commented, "I feel it is important that I always keep in my mind that I have to teach children how to think, evaluate, and accept other's opinions."
• UNI/Russian Exchange Program for the past eight years includes not only exchanges with university students and faculty, but also with high school students, research participants, and graduate students. The program began with seven participants and has grown to 50 this year.
• UNI Overseas Placement Service for Educators links top educators with American schools overseas. The program which started in 1976 brings representatives from over 125 international schools to the Northern Iowa campus to recruit educators. The UNI placement service is known around the world as the place to go for teachers who want to work overseas.
• Expert Practice Worldwide grew out of the UNI Overseas Placement Office. It provides opportunities for UNI students and alumni to work with the Salzburg Preparatory Academy in Salzburg, Austria. Other opportunities exist in Mexico and recent contacts have been made with Arthur Andersen for positions in their German and Russian offices.
• USA/SINO Initiative focuses on groups of teacher educators in the Peoples Republic of China and the United States who provide collaborative opportunities to understand current trends in education. College of Education faculty are currently working with Chinese educators and the China Central Radio and TV University on distance education activities.
• Camp Adventure®, the international youth service program, provides hundreds of university students, including many from Northern Iowa, the chance to integrate theory with practice in providing youth service to four branches of the U.S. military. In 1995, 600 college and university students worked with 7,000 children daily.

These international experiences are the highlights of the College's entry called "Passport to Global Practice", says McKay. College of Education Dean Thomas Switzer comments on documenting what the College is doing in the international arena: "Although it is nice to receive recognition for your efforts, it is far more important that we provide high quality and diverse opportunities for UNI students and for the people we serve in the international settings."

Other College faculty on the report committee include: Karla Jo Skinner, Overseas Placement Coordinator; Penny Beed and Jeannie Steele, Curriculum and Instruction Department; Dennis Cryer, School of Health, Physical Education, and Leisure Services; David Else, Educational Administration Department; Kurt Meredith, Department of Special Education; Janey Montgomery, Department of Teaching; and Tim O'Connor, International Programs.