LOS ANGELES, May 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The University of Southern California's (USC) Rossier School of Education, among the first schools of education to prioritize global competence in its programs, is announcing a multi-year partnership with Global Leadership Excellence (GLE), LLC to assess its students and curricula. The global competence of graduate students is being objectively measured using GLE's Global Competence Aptitude Assessment (GCAA)®, which is a diagnostic tool that is providing benchmark feedback to both the School and its future educational leaders.

The GCAA®, the world's foremost measurement of global competence, measures eight dimensions across the complexities of global knowledge, attitudes, and people skills that comprise the Global Competence Model™. At the conclusion of their curricula, education students' global competence will be reassessed to objectively determine their growth to date and provide direction for curriculum enhancement.

The result of 10 years of original research and development across six continents, the GCAA® is based entirely on research that created a worldwide consensus definition for global competence and its critical aptitudes, as summarized in the Global Competence Model™. Expert contributors to the consensus research, representing both education and the global workforce, consisted of educators from numerous countries, Fortune 500 company human resource managers, the United Nations, government officials and intercultural consultants.

Christi Hunter, Chief Executive Officer for GLE, notes, "USC Rossier stands ahead among American schools of education for committing to global competence as a key curricular component. One cannot enact change without the conviction to objectively measure status and to then set new goals to strive towards continual growth."

With its mission of improving learning locally, nationally and globally, USC Rossier has built global studies into its graduate programs with the intent of making its students fully able to work in a collaborative, interdependent global economy, and to make generations of future American workers globally competitive.

According to USC Rossier Dean Karen Symms Gallagher, "We believe that tomorrow's teachers and educational leaders must have exceptional global capability in order to affect real learning among their future students. Rossier is committed to programs that teach global competency and prepare educators for the complexities of the 21^st century."

Rossier's Ed.D. program, built for practitioners who want to become principals, superintendents and other school leaders, includes a global study tour opportunity, with students spending time in international K-12 schools, universities, and NGOs to build their knowledge of educational differences.

The school's online Master of Arts in Teaching program has enrolled students from 40 different countries, and has established scholarships to build international study into the program.

"To improve the global competitiveness of American workers means starting with education," according to Hunter. "For the U.S. to compete in our interconnected global economy, we need to ensure that our present and future workers are globally competent."

Rossier has also launched a Global Executive Ed.D. program, which enrolls education and corporate professionals from around the world to build their competence as international leaders in 21^st century education.

About USC Rossier School of Education—(ross-EAR) The Rossier School of Education is part of The University of Southern California, one of the world's leading private research universities. Rossier leads the way in innovative, collaborative solutions to improve education outcomes. Known for innovation in all programs, and for preparing teachers, administrators, and educational leaders who are change agents, USC Rossier supports the most forward-thinking scholars and researchers, whose work is having direct impact on student success in K-12 schools and higher education. http://rossier.usc.edu

About Global Leadership Excellence—Headquartered in Coopersburg, Pennsylvania, Global Leadership Excellence (GLE) has a mission to prepare the global workforce of tomorrow. To that end, GLE has developed the Global Competence Aptitude Assessment (GCAA)®, which is a comprehensive, objective online instrument based on rigorous worldwide research of the knowledge, attitudes and people skills necessary for global readiness. The GCAA® is used around the world to assess the global competence of students, teachers, and other working professionals in business, government, and non-profit sectors. www.globalcompetence.org

Media Contacts

University of Southern California Rossier School of Education
Barbara Goen
barbara.goen@rossier.usc.edu

Global Leadership Excellence, LLC
Christi Hunter
christi.hunter@globalcompetence.org
+1.610.717.4222

SOURCE USC Rossier School of Education; Global Leadership Excellence, LLC