High School Study Abroad Scholarship Proposal - 3/22/08

High School Study Abroad Scholarship Program

Proposal Revised 3/22/08

By

                                                                        Dave Porter

 

General Proposal:

This is the conceptual outline of a scholarship program that could send many more Oregon high school students to study abroad. It is drafted for purposes of discussion and further development, so please send comments.

The scholarship program proposal would consist of three related legislative bills proposed for the Oregon 2009 legislative session. The first would permits local school districts to use the funds they get from the state and any other public or private funds to give scholarships to high school students to study abroad. The bill would also authorize local school districts to receive state funding the same as in district students for students studying abroad under a qualified scholarship from the local school district (students studying abroad can be claimed for ADM). The second would adjust or waive graduation requirement for students who study abroad for a full academic year so that they do not need to do an additional year of high school to graduate. And the third bill would fund a state level high school study abroad scholarship program that could augment school districts level scholarship for students studying “critical need languages.”

General Background:

(1) There are existing academic-year-long study abroad programs that cost less than the per pupil spending in many Oregon school districts. For examples, using data from the Oregon Department of Education’s Open Book website for a recent year, Portland’s per pupil spending was $9,442, Salem-Keizer’s was $8,288, Beaverton’s was $7,607 , Hillsboro’s was $7,499 , and Eugene’s was $8,440. Portland based Education, Travel and Culture offers academic year abroad programs with fees ranging from to $5,500 to $7,950, not including airfare, from countries ranging from Brazil to Sweden. China is $6,950 (plus airfare) for an academic year. Portland based Andeo offers an academic year in Mexico for $6,000 plus airfare. There are many other study abroad programs currently existing and others could be created specifically to use this funding. So for little or no additional costs, Oregon could have many more high school students studying abroad. Some school district could save money by sending students to study abroad.

(2) There is a national organization, the Council for Standards on International Educational Travel (CSIET) that “identifies reputable international youth exchange programs.” So, to be eligible for public funding, the basic list of eligible study abroad program could be those listed with this CSIET. There could be provisions for each school district or the Oregon Department of Education to approve additional programs.

Basic study abroad scholarship program:

Tentative provisions of bill authorizing school districts to pay and receive public funds for study abroad scholarships: 

(1) School districts are permitted to use the funds they get from the state and any other public or private funds to give scholarships to high school students for payment of study abroad expenses.

(2) Parents and students may pay part of the study abroad expenses.

(3) Other organizations, such as the Rotary or foundations, may pay part of the study abroad expenses.

(4) If the school district has paid at least 90% of the per student allocation from the State of Oregon as a study abroad scholarship for a specific student, that student will count for purposes of the state allocation of funds the same as if the student were present in district. (For example, if the state pays $6,200 per student to each school district, then any student receiving a study aboard scholarship of at least $5,580 (90% of $6,200) shall be counted as present in the district for purposes of the allocation of state funds.)

(5) Selection of the study abroad program shall be the responsibility of the parents and student. However, the school district must approve the specific study abroad program ahead of time. The state and school district shall have no liability for any aspect of the study abroad program.

(6) Scholarship can be used for any associated expenses such as tuition, transportation, room & board, books, etc., and not limited to tuition.

(7) Students may attend a variety of study abroad options including foreign high schools and foreign language only schools. Foreign school setting may be public or private.

(8) The study abroad program must take place in the language of the country in which the study abroad takes place.

(9) Students must live in an immersion setting, that is to say they must live with foreign families or in foreign student settings where only the foreign language is spoken.

(10)Study abroad students may go to English speaking counties.

(11) School districts may restrict their study abroad programs to specific languages or  countries.

(12) Students must be fluent in English to be eligible.

(13) At least one parent of a student must approve the study abroad program if the student is less than 18.

(14) Payment can go either to the student’s parent or directly to an organization
providing the study abroad program.

(15) To be eligible a student must have been enrolled in an Oregon public school for a  full academic year immediately prior to going on a study abroad scholarship. 

Adjusting or waiving graduations requirements for students studying abroad

Currently students studying abroad are granted credit for specific courses towards graduation requirements at the discretion/judgment of their high school (usually a counselor). For students whose foreign language fluency is such that they will take courses in a foreign high school, this system can continue or such student may also waive the 1.0 credit for Global Studies, 1.0 credit for English, 1.0 science credit and 1.0 math credit from their graduation requirements. For students who may not be in regular foreign high school classes or who may or may not be in a regular foreign high school, but study only the foreign language for four hours or more a day (5 days a week) in whatever setting, they should be given 4.0 credits for foreign language study, 1.0 credits for Global Studies, and 1.0 credits for English, plus one year of math and science each should be waived from their graduation requirements. 

State level funding for scholarships for “critical need languages:”

The Oregon Department of Education would be allocated $500,000 for high school study abroad scholarships for “critical need languages.” Each scholarship would be for $3,000 for an academic year abroad. 50 in first year of biennium ($150,000). 100 in the second year of the biennium ($300,000). Plus $50,000 allocated to the Department of Education for administration. The intent is to give incentives for the most needed languages and to increase the opportunity of low income students to participate in the high school study abroad program. Only students also receiving a study abroad scholarship from a school district would be eligible. Only study of “critical need languages” eligible. The current national list of “critical need languages” includes: Arabic, Azeri (Azerbiajan), Bengali (Bangladesh and part of India), Chinese (Mandarin only), Farsi (Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan), Gujarati (state of Gujarat in India), Hindi (northern and central India), Korean, Marathi (western India), Pashto (parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan), Punjabi (parts of India and Pakistan), Russian, Tajik (Tajikistan and parts of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan and China), Turkish, Urdu (Pakistan, similar to Hindi), and Uzbek (Uzbekistan).

Website links:

(1) Department of Education’s Open Book: http://www.openbooksproject.org/district.aspx.

(2)  Education, Travel and Culture: http://www.edutrav.org/study-fees.asp.

(3)  Andeo: http://www.andeo.org/html/mexico2.html.  

(4) Council for Standards on International Educational Travel (CSIET): http://www.csiet.org/mc/page.do.

(5) For info on “critical need languages” see http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2006/58733.htm and http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:JZy9pFCJqD8J:us.fulbrightonline.org/documents/fulbright_language.doc+critical+language+initiative&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=us&client=firefox-a

 

Comments

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This is an important proposal, especially considering the new regulations imposed by the state board of education on field trips and international travel. As a public international option school the new regulations limit our ability to give students a truly global education if we are not allowed to provide opportunities to travel abroad, especially in the languages they are studying. Some form of this proposal would help us give the appropriate opportunities. However I would suggest if a school has three focus languages, (even if some of them are not critical need), there should be consideration of this as well. Also, in our case, we would like to encourage our students to take the year off between 10th and 11th grade to study abroad before they begin the rigors of the Diploma Program within the International Baccalaureate Program. The extra year of developmental growth, experience abroad and global perspective will enhance their ability and what they have to offer as they enter into this highly academic program. Perhaps in these cases the state (or district) would pay only partial scholarship, or base it upon need.
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