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The increasing need for global education competencies in K-12 education

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The increasing need for global education competencies in K-12 education

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Content Running head: NEED FOR GLOBAL EDUCATION COMPETENCIES IN K-12

1

THE INCREASING NEED FOR GLOBAL EDUCATION COMPETENCIES
IN K-12 EDUCATION

by

Rhonda R. Parks

______________________________________________________________________

A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION

August 2015

Copyright 2015 Rhonda R. Parks

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DEDICATION
I dedicate this dissertation to my incredible children, Connor and Kate Marie. I know
this journey has called for extraordinary levels of patience and sacrifice on your part. Thank you
for your support and love throughout my desire to continue my education. Connor, thank you for
your encouragement and the endless times you sat with me to tackle technology issues and
assignments, even if it meant going to bed late on a school night. You constantly inspire me to
try new things, stepping out of my comfort zone, with your ‘go for it’ attitude. This attitude will
serve you well in life. Kate Marie, thank you for your constant little nudge to keep me going.
You began with a collage of inspirational quotes that has moved from binder to binder as I
changed courses to the countless “you can do it, mom” cheers as I’d tackle another relentless
task. Your caring heart and intense dedication to your studies constantly lift me up and keep me
seeking to be better. I can only hope I have provided the two of you, and can continue to provide
you, with the same level of support and encouragement as you pursue your dreams in life. Let
this dissertation remind you both that education and hard work are keys to success no matter
what you choose to do in life.
I dedicate this dissertation also to my always-supportive parents, Jim and Sylvia Didion.
You have always encouraged me to follow my dreams. May our entire family be blessed with a
love for learning and our future generations seek your combination of hard work, family
dedication, continuous goal setting, new learning and strong vision for what the future will hold.
Success at its finest!

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I have been fortunate to have many professional mentors and, for this, I am immensely
grateful. To the dynamic team of Cohort 2, thank you for being such a supportive group. Each
one of you has added so much to my life and I couldn’t have completed the program without
you!
I would like to thank two close friends whose encouragement continues to push me to try
new things. Carla Poellnitz, the woman crazy enough to work along side me for many years, has
guided me through her deep questioning and never ending support. I thank you! You are
brilliant! Christine Gregg, the first person to ever hire me for a teaching position, has popped up
time after time to support and encourage me through so many moments in my career. Thank you
for always ending our communications with kind words to keep me feeling loved. Your support
means so much to me.
I would like to acknowledge the Academic Dean of the chosen school site. She’s been a
true collaborator, willing to open any door I needed to provide support and encouragement as I
walked through this doctoral program. I am truly grateful for her professional mentoring and
personal friendship.
Thank you to the entire faculty at USC Rossier School of Education. You have made a
sincere commitment to provide a valuable global program while embedding support and
guidance through each phase. My deepest gratitude goes to Dr. Helena Seli, my dissertation
chair, who has spent countless hours directing and reviewing my writing with a heaping dose of
reassurance and encouragement. I am very grateful.
To the schools willing to open their doors to me as I seek to learn all I can about global
education studies, I am forever grateful for your collaboration.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Dedication 2
Acknowledgements 3
List of Tables 6
List of Figures 7
Abstract 8
Chapter 1: Overview of the Study 9
Introduction of the Problem of Practice 9
Organizational Context and Mission 11
Organizational Performance Problem 12
Related Literature 13
Importance of the Problem 16
Organizational Goal 18
Stakeholders and Stakeholders’ Goals 19
Stakeholder for the Study and Stakeholder Performance Gap 22
Purpose of the Project and Questions 23
Methodological Framework 24
Definitions 25
Organization of the Dissertation 25
Chapter 2: Review of the Literature 27
Globalization 27
Global Education 32
Characteristics of a Globally Competent School 41
Barriers to Assessing Global Competence 44
Organizational Change 47
Teacher Preparation 49
Teachers’ Knowledge, Motivation and Organizational Needs Based on 53
the Review of Literature

Chapter 3: Methodology 58
Purpose of the Project and Questions 58
Framework for the Study 59
Assumed Needs 60
Scanning Interviews 61
Learning and Motivation Theory 64
Validation of Performance Needs 70
Participants 80
Procedures 80
Data Collection 81
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Role of the Investigator 82
Limitations and Delimitations 83
Summary 84
Chapter 4: Results 85
Introduction 85
Participating Stakeholders 86
Surveys 86
Interviews 87
Findings 88
Findings from Document Analysis 117
Summary of Validated Needs 117
Chapter 5: Solutions, Implementation and Evaluation 118
Validated Needs Selection and Rationale 119
Solutions for Knowledge Needs 121
Solutions for Motivation Needs 129
Solutions for Organization Needs 135
Summary of Knowledge, Motivation and Organizational Solutions 143
Implementation 149
Evaluation Plan 151
Limitations 155
Future Research 156
Conclusion 157
References 159
Appendices 172
Appendix A: Survey Questions 172
Appendix B: Fill In The Blank Survey Questions 176
Appendix C: Interview Questions 177
Appendix D: Document Analysis Protocol 178

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LIST OF TABLES
Table 1. Organizational Mission, Global Goal and Stakeholder Goals 22
Table 2. Summary of Assumed Needs for Knowledge, Motivation, and Organizational 68
Issues
Table 3. Summary of Assumed Knowledge Needs 72
Table 4. Summary of Assumed Motivation Needs and Validation 74
Table 5. Summary of Assumed Needs for Organizational/Cultural/Context Problems 77
Table 6. Knowledge Gaps Validated by the Question: What Type of Training Do You 90
Need to Feel Comfortable to Implement Global Education Competencies?
Table 7. Results of Knowledge Interview Questions: Factual and Conceptual 92
Understanding
Table 8. Results of the Motivation Survey: Value and Efficacy 98
Table 9. Results of Motivation Survey: Fill-in-the-Blank (Sampling of Answers 99
Provided): Task Value
Table 10. Result Data Relevant to Motivation and Organizational Barriers 101
Table 11. Results of the Motivation Survey: Self Efficacy 103
Table 12. Motivation Gaps Validated or Not Validated 106
Table 13. Organizational Gaps Validated or Not Validated 111
Table 14. Results of the Organization Survey 112
Table 15. Validated KMO Ranked According the Above Described Criteria 120
Table 16. Factual and Conceptual Knowledge Gaps and Solutions 123
Table 17. Motivation Gaps and Solutions 132
Table 18. Organizational Gaps and Solutions 143
Table 19. Summary of KMO Gaps and Solutions 145
Table 20. Implementation Plan 2016 — Reflects First Year Only 150
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1. Gap analysis process 60
Figure 2. Teachers’ highest level of education 87

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ABSTRACT
The identified organization is a college-preparatory school enrolling approximately 1240
students in grades pre-kindergarten to grade twelve. As a school continually seeking to provide
students with the most rigorous curriculum, aligned with the desired skills of top tier universities,
the school’s administration shows a desire to implement global education competencies as a way
to prepare students for the growing international population and travel abroad programs students
will encounter in higher education institutions. Additionally, it is believed that by providing a
wealth of cultural knowledge, students will be more inclusive and demonstrate an understanding
of people different than themselves. The gap analysis framework was used, with modifications
for a needs-based analysis, to investigate the knowledge, motivation and organizational needs of
the organization necessary for a successful policy implementation. Twenty-three teacher survey
responses were collected and nine interviews conducted representing teachers of this school
community. A qualitative methods analysis revealed eight specific needs and fifteen
recommended solutions. To increase the odds of a successful policy implementation, the
organization needs to determine a concrete and meaningful definition of global education
competencies as it aligns with the school mission. It was also found that teachers desire
foundational knowledge of the definition and training in the concepts and strategies necessary to
implement global education competencies with their particular student population. Models of
professional development, based on the teacher responses, were recommended to enhance the
teacher’s motivation for the subject and its implementation. Together, with sustained motivation,
teachers could be very successful implementing global education competencies across multiple
content areas.

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CHAPTER 1
OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY
This study examines the knowledge, motivation and organizational needs of teachers, the
key stakeholders, to successfully implement effective curriculum integration of global education.
Imperative to this study is the research on appropriate and applicable professional development
necessary to support teachers with this new policy. Justifications of the need to include global
education competencies for this particular organization are supported through an intensive
literature review. This study was developed with the ultimate goal of student achievement in the
area of global education competencies.
Introduction of the Problem of Practice
In a world that is rapidly growing more interconnected, it is critical that students learn to
be globally minded through language experience, integration of technology across academic
disciplines, the promotion of service education and through access to opportunities to connect
with the world at large (Mansilla & Jackson, 2011). There exists a tremendous gap today
between the demand for a globally competent workforce and the supply of students emerging
from United States schools (Singmaster, 2013). For example, schools are not teaching students
critical thinking, which is a core global competency that is crucial to their success in today’s
global workforce (Wagner, 2010). Contrary to popular opinion, the essence of global education
competencies is not reflected in a reliance on study abroad programs. Rather, a global
perspective is the result of a synthesis of cultural knowledge, language skills, global
perspectives, global economic markets, and global action in order for students to realize that the
world is more important than individuals in isolated environments. The implementation of
global education competencies into the classroom is aimed at instilling in students a commitment
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to the common good of humanity (Thomas, 2002). Global education competencies lead to
students’ multicultural knowledge of peoples and regions beyond the borders of the United
States and cultivate in them an understanding of the relationships between nations (Olson, Evans,
& Shoenberg, 2007). This approach offers a paradigm shift away from the historic insularity of
independent primary and secondary schools.
Although many educational organizations include global mindedness in their strategic
goals, existing literature demonstrates a lack of research into educational programs’ level of
effectiveness in cultivating global citizenship and cultural understanding in students (Wilkinson
& Hayden, 2010). Despite the lack of research, however, global educational programs have
increased in popularity. International Baccalaureate (IB) programs, for example, which are
known for their global education curriculum, have shown an increase in applications for their
programs in kindergarten through twelfth grade (K-12) schools. Furthermore, from January
2007 to 2012, the IB Primary Years Programme increased membership by 176.58%, the Middle
Years Programme by 85.06%, and the Diploma Programme by 55.67% (International
Baccalaureate Organization [IBO], 2012). The exponential growth in IB programs in recent
years demonstrates the heightened interest in global education programs within the United
States. There is a growing commitment to global education among U.S. educators. A full 98% of
educators and 99% of school principals nationally believe that global competence is important
for the future of their students (Markow, Pieters, Interactive, 2010). Although the growth rate of
these programs is significant and their critical role in global education is gaining more
recognition, further analysis of the effectiveness of such global competency programs is vital.
This is the main focus of the present study.
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Organizational Context and Mission
The organization on which this study is focused is a “leading coeducational, independent,
college-preparatory day school” in Southwest, California that serves 1,230 students in preschool
through grade 12. Its student body represents thirty-three different local cities and communities.
Annual tuition ranges from $17,000 to $26,000 per student depending on grade level. The
organization’s commitment to community and diversity is the heart of its need-based financial
aid program. Financial aid awards for the 2011-2012 school year equaled 2.1 million dollars.
Twenty-five percent of the school’s population is students of color and there are nineteen
different faith backgrounds represented. The school is accredited through the Western
Association of Schools and Colleges and the National Association of Episcopal Schools. The
organization is overseen by their Head of School, as well as by experienced division principals
and assistant principals. An independent Board of Trustees governs the school. The school’s
mission is to educate the hearts and minds for lives of learning, leadership and service with a
global lens in hopes of developing the knowledge, experience and sensitivity in students that are
critical for them to become true global citizens. The need to cultivate students’ self-awareness,
empathy, and growth through meaningful cross-cultural and cross-curricular academic pursuits
addresses one of the school’s primary concerns of fight[ing] insularity. This was a key
recommendation from the California Association of Independent Schools visiting accreditation
committee when they evaluated the organization in 2012. The school is committed to preparing
its graduates for a global workforce and recognizes that curriculum changes are necessary to
prepare students to be valuable contributors to the ever-changing job market.
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Organizational Performance Problem
During the 2011-2012 academic year, only 10% of students at this school in grades
kindergarten through twelve exhibited behaviors in line with the process of becoming globally
active citizens as measured by the Assessment of Inclusivity and Multiculturalism Survey in
2009. The results of this survey stated: “multiculturalism is not integrated into every aspect of
the curriculum” (AIM Summary Report, 2009, p. 45) and concluded that multiculturalism has
therefore become a significant area of concern for this organization. In response to these
findings, the school formed a Global Education Task Force to initiate a strategic plan in support
of global education competencies at this southwest school with the goal of fostering in students
an appreciation for diversity and an understanding of the importance of multiculturalism in
today’s globalized world. Additionally, the task force was designed to evaluate current global
education competencies curriculum to ensure it is in alignment with the school’s mission
statement.
The gap analysis model is best suited to evaluate the discrepancy between the
organization’s mission to develop global education competencies and the desired 100% of
students showing an 80% or above proficiency in this area as measured by the United States
Department of Education’s established benchmarks of global education. A gap analysis is a
comparison of actual performance of an organization and its employees and the potential
performance of an organization and its employees. This study evaluated discrepancy between
the current student performance in the area of global education competencies and their potential
performance. Additionally, the study examined the necessary professional development
imperative to support teachers in implementing global education competencies.
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Related Literature
Modern societies are marked by new economic, cultural, technological, and
environmental shifts that have ushered in swift changes as a result of globalization. The Global
Competence Task Force is designed to address these changes within global education. A group
of world educational leaders, the Global Task Force generated a definition of global competence
under the direction of Council of Chief State School Officers EdSteps (CCSSO-EdSteps),
supported by the United States Department of Education, and in cooperation with Asia Society
Partnership for Global Learning: “Global competence is the capacity and disposition to
understand and act on issues of global significance including, but not limited to, investigating the
world, recognizing perspectives, communicating ideas and taking action” (Mansilla & Jackson,
2011, p. xiii).
The changes resulting from forces of globalization impact our lives in notable ways. It is
consequently imperative that we teach children to understand and adjust to today’s globalized
world in a concrete and practical manner. From 2007 to 2011, for example, the state of
California alone saw a 13.93 to 27.16% estimated increase in the total foreign-born population
(Asia Society, “Mapping the Nation”, n.d.). Since 1990, moreover, three billion people in China,
India, and the former Soviet Union have moved from closed economies into a global market
(Stewart, 2007). Along similar lines, the U.S. Census Bureau stated that as of 2011, one in three
U.S. manufacturing jobs and one in five agricultural jobs were tied to international trade, a
proportion that will continue to increase (U.S. Census Bureau, 2011). In a global economy
where 95% of the world’s consumers live outside the U.S. borders (U.S. Census Bureau, 2011),
it is imperative that educators prepare our next generation to be productive citizens both within
and beyond the United States.
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In the twenty-first century, nations will simultaneously become both more competitive
and more interdependent (Power, 2000). The future of these nation-states rests on the
knowledge, skills and resourcefulness of their citizens, which creates new opportunities and
difficulties for education (Power, 2000). Work-related transactions that were once merely local
will now span multiple continents and implicate several different legal systems (Suarez-Orozco
& Sattin-Bajaj, 2010). The need for students to grasp foreign culture, languages, global
economics, the environment and social systems will generate competition among school systems
to meet these pressing requirements. In the past, U.S. educational experiences did not provide
students with the adequate information and tools to understand what was happening in the world,
nor how it affected their lives, the lives of others and the planet itself (Andrzejewski & Alessio,
1999). Certain researchers (e.g., Singmaster, 2013; World Savvy, 2010) have asserted that the
United States educates its students for the past instead of the future by narrowing curriculum in
scope and focus, discouraging creativity and innovation, and producing a generation of students
who are not taught how to think, but what to think through rote memorization and repetition.
The United States has invested unprecedented resources in education, betting that the
outmoded, factory-age system can be fundamentally transformed to prepare students for the
rigors of a global economy (Jackson, 2013). With the notably high growth rate of global
programs and the extensive resources dedicated to these programs, school systems have a
responsibility to research the effectiveness of the pedagogy they deliver. To date, there is a
shortage of coherent, practical frameworks to apply to the creation or evaluation of global
instruction (Wilkinson & Hayden, 2010). Instead, educators are forced to extract bits and pieces
of established assessment tools touching on different areas of global competency that will
provide information about student thinking and proficiency in the area of cultural awareness.
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One such tool is the Harvard Assessment Seminar-JRPO Adaptation. According to the high
school freshmen’s assessment results among those who participated in the Harvard Assessment
Seminar-JRPO Adaptation, only 19% believe that their school adequately prepares them to travel
among and interact with people in another country. A closer look at the data indicates that only
25% of the identified schools’ students strongly agree that their school succeeds at exposing
them to different cultures (Benchmark Research, 2012).
It is imperative that students graduate with a clear understanding of changing world
demographics (Hobert, 2012). As schools around the nation reevaluate the way in which
students are educated, curriculum developers must consider the global economy. The motivation
for primary and secondary schools to move toward a global education curriculum varies. The
desire to strengthen the curriculum and, therefore, promote graduates showing a broad
understanding of how they will soon impact the world market could work to strengthen the
school’s reputation. The drive to stay competitive with neighboring schools could be a factor in
providing students with global perspectives. As a college-preparatory school, the value of
implementing global education competencies could lie in the desire to produce graduates more
prepared for college life, giving students an edge above other high school graduates.
In California alone, from 1992 to 2001, jobs tied to international trade increased by 108%
(Asia Society, “Mapping the Nation”, n.d.). It is clear that today’s students must become more
exposed to and comfortable with the new globalized world. Wagner (2010) asserted that
“critical and creative thinkers with a strong sense of empathy and an understanding of world
culture and language will be best prepared for life after compulsory education” (p. 16). As
viable corporations become a global force in the world economy, there is a growth in
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intercultural interactions and exchanges that lead to population movement among different
cultures.
The collective data appears to suggest that U.S. school systems are neglecting to prepare
students in fundamental ways, particularly in their failure to encourage student proficiency in a
second language. In California, for instance, only 15% of students learn a foreign language, and
the vast majority of that population does not go beyond an introductory level (Singmaster, 2013).
Moreover, very few U.S. students learn languages spoken by large numbers of people
worldwide, such as Chinese (1.3 billion speakers) or Arabic (246 million speakers) (Stewart,
2007). In California, up to 73.02% of individuals speak only English in their homes (Asia
Society, “Mapping the Nation”, n.d.). To successfully compete in the global marketplace, it is
essential for the education system to provide young people with an in-depth education that will
teach the skills to solve problems both locally and internationally, collaborate with diverse
cultures, encourage language development, and be competent at buying and selling goods from
around the world. There exists a broad consensus among researchers regarding the need for a
more globally competent society to effectively confront the challenges of the twenty-first century
(Mortenson, 2011, Olson et al., 2007), although how this should be accomplished is still a subject
of heated debate.
Importance of the Problem
The world in which today’s graduates live and work looks fundamentally different than
twenty years ago. Though the emphasis currently placed on the subjects of math, science and
technology in United States schools is vital to compete on the world stage, the knowledge of
world issues and cultures is equally important. Efforts to implement global strategies have
proved difficult in a climate of limited resources and increased standardized testing of basic
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skills. Without an all-encompassing education that includes curriculum in global education
competencies, U.S. students will be destined to local careers and the United States may lose its
economic edge over other countries. Kupchan (2012) cautioned that the United States is already
in danger of losing its position as a global economic powerhouse. Furthermore, the Asia Society
(2013) asserted that students’ lack of knowledge about foreign cultures and foreign languages
“threatens the security of the United States” (p. 12). In particular, issues relating to terrorism and
weapons proliferation have an international dimension. Future leaders will therefore need to be
able to solve these problems through international cooperation among governmental and
professional organizations (Stewart, 2007). As the borders between countries begin to blur, U.S.
citizens — including the generations of school children we are educating today — are asked to
vote and act on issues and security measures linked to terrorism; a responsibility that requires a
greater knowledge of the world.
As a leading independent school, the organization under review looks to current
educational research to best prepare their students for the world beyond their academic careers.
It is the school’s mission to prepare students to be active citizens in the world. It is thus
important to solve the problem related to lack of global education competence to ensure that the
organization adequately strengthens the capabilities and preparation of its students within a
globally forged occupational marketplace. Solving this issue ensures that students are supported
in their growth into adults who are influential in tackling global issues. The administration of
this school organization is a prime example of leadership responding to the phenomenon of
globalization and implementing organizational change. Consequently, the organization’s unique
educational experience in the context of forging global competence will stay competitive within
the local independent school arena. Independent schools in the local area have been identified as
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benchmark programs in global education competencies. These schools of similar population
demographics and curriculum are successfully implementing global education competencies. All
benchmark schools have global education as part of their school mission statement and/or
strategic plan and have identified ways to support curriculum with a global lens.
The review of literature in Chapter 2 provides a context for understanding how leaders
have implemented organizational change in K-12 schools. One of the objectives of this study is
to address the issues surrounding implementation of global education competencies and
highlights the most effective strategies used to ensure cohesive curriculum changes and
sustainability of global education competencies curriculum. A closer look at revolutionary
changes and the necessary teacher training relevant to these changes is discussed, as well as the
theme of creating a shared vision embedded into the school’s organizational culture.
Organizational Goal
The need for a global education competencies program at the identified school was
classified by a previous cross section of self-studies. Developing self-awareness, empathy and
growth mindsets in students through meaningful cross-cultural academic pursuits addresses the
beginning stages of global education implementation. The Academic Dean’s goal by January
2016 is to design a professional growth plan to provide the knowledge and support necessary for
teachers to implement global education competencies across content areas. In preparation for
this implementation, by November 2015, the Global Education Task Force will create
recommendations for K-12 instructors that will support global education competencies.
Teachers will work to develop a culture of global competence and inclusiveness among the
school’s K-12 student population. Specifically, by the current freshman students’ senior year of
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high school (October, 2019), 100% of students should score at or above 80% proficiency,
according to the U.S. Department of Education’s established benchmark expectancies.
Stakeholders and Stakeholders’ Goals
The stakeholders representing this school include the Global Education Task Force,
Academic Dean, Head of School, Board of Trustees, instructors, parents and students. The
primary influences for the determination of successful global competence are the Global
Education Task Force, Academic Dean and instructors. Each listed department plays a distinct
role in students’ achievement of global competencies.
Based on the results of a cross sectional study that demonstrated inadequate opportunities
for students to interact with individuals from varying cultures, the organization formed a Global
Education Task Force in September 2012 to address these concerns. The task force consists of
staff, parents and the Academic Dean. This group identified programs that were not being
fulfilled yet were important to the “learning, leadership and service” of students and the entire
community (Clark & Graham, 2013). The Academic Dean recruited staff members for the task
force who demonstrated leadership qualities and a passion for global education competencies.
The Global Education Task Force became responsible for creating a school vision, a rationale, a
literature review and a five-year plan for the school’s global education initiative. These
recommendations were reported to the Academic Dean in 2013 and in February 2014, the task
force entered review. The final results and documentation were presented to the Board of
Trustees in June 2014 in hopes that its contents would justify the need to add global education
competencies to the school-wide strategic plan. The recommendations included two-, five- and
ten-year competency benchmarks.
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Currently, there is limited research on teachers’ opinions regarding global education
competencies and their responses to these concepts. A multitude of benchmark schools were
examined as examples of how leadership responds to the implementation of new education
initiatives. Understanding how organizational leaders have implemented initiatives in past
history will be important to examine as a guide to move into the initiation of global education
competencies across content areas. The decision to imbed global education competencies into
the culture of the school and the identification of teacher training needs provides an opportunity
to study how leadership and instructors respond to newly developed initiatives.
On average, the student community of this organization is considered to be socio-
economically affluent. Despite these demographic factors, the school shows a true commitment
to the inclusion of all socio-economic levels through its well-established scholarship program.
The overall student population shows a sincere eagerness to learn and many excel with the
college-preparatory curriculum. One hundred percent of the 2013 graduating class attended
four-year colleges or universities of their choice. It is likely that many of these students work
beyond the borders of the United States and will influence the world market. To fulfill the
organizational goal of being globally competent, students need to follow the instructors’
curricular plan based on a common definition of global competence recognized by the Academic
Dean and Global Education Task Force, which is: investigating the world, recognizing
perspectives, communicating ideas and taking action (Mansilla & Jackson, 2011). Moreover,
students need to complete pre-determined assignments in all content areas with a focus on the
learning connections to the world stage. Finally, students need to demonstrate global
competence as evidenced by pre-determined teacher rubrics.
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With the majority of teachers holding graduate degrees, the faculty is an accomplished
group of working professionals. The school employs approximately ninety-five teachers at the
kindergarten to twelfth grade levels. To apply for a career with this organization in an instructor
capacity, five years teaching experience is expected and at least three references from their field
are recommended. Once hired, instructors are given multiple occasions to enhance their teaching
proficiency through on-site professional growth opportunities, travel, paid leave for conferences
of interest, collaboration with on- and off-site teachers, and administrative support. Instructors
are accountable to division principals, as well as the Academic Dean for curriculum taught, and
the Head of School for continuous favorable student outcomes.
This dissertation studies teachers’ current baseline knowledge of global education
competencies and the immediate needs of teachers to implement global competencies across
different content areas. In order to accomplish this, the present study draws on research
emphasizing strategies for effective and sustainable organizational change on K-12 school sites.
Additionally, this study will assess teachers’ motivation to implement global education
competencies. Clear communication among all stakeholders is necessary to meet the goal of the
organization’s mission to educate students with global competence. The Global Education Task
Force will provide instructors with guidance regarding current educational trends in global
education for K-12 students, as well as offering them research-based ideas necessary to ensure
that students are prepared to learn and work in a global society. Moreover, the instructors will
seek advice from the Academic Dean regarding which curriculum is appropriate to meet the goal
of establishing a competitive independent school that values global education as a means to
prepare students for the changing world. Ultimately, the instructors will bring the success of
students to fruition by implementing day-to-day lessons that teach the needed concepts to
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cultivate students’ global competence by May 2019. Table 1 identifies the key stakeholders and
outlines their goals as related to the overarching organizational goal.

Table 1
Organizational Mission, Global Goal and Stakeholder Goals
Organizational Mission
The school’s mission is to educate the hearts and minds for lives of learning, leadership and
service with a global lens.
Organizational Global Goal
By May 2019, 80% of K-12 school’s students will meet global education competencies as
measured by designed assessments.
Global Education Task
Force
By December 2015, the
Global Education Task Force
will create recommendations
for K–12 instructors that will
support global education
competencies integrated into
each content area including
assessment tools to evidence
level of proficiency.
Academic Dean
By January 2016, the
Academic Dean will design a
professional growth plan to
provide the knowledge and
support necessary for teachers
to implement global
education competencies
across content areas.
Instructors
By June 2016, all instructors
will implement global
education strategies to teach
the global curriculum across
content areas as designed by
the Academic Dean and
recommended by the Global
Education Task Force.

Stakeholder for the Study and Stakeholder Performance Gap
Collaboration between all stakeholders is critical to the mastery of global education
competencies at the level necessary to meet the organization’s mission. Though each
stakeholder contributes to the elevation of the school’s global competence in different ways, it is
critical to study the barriers that instructors face to achieving students’ 80% or higher proficiency
in global education competency as measured using evaluation tools implemented by the
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23
Academic Dean. It is the instructors’ knowledge of global education, the evidence of a strong
global curriculum and teachers’ effective instructional skills that fosters student proficiency in
global competency. Given that only 25% of the students “strongly agree” that their school
adequately exposes them to different cultures (Harvard Assessment Seminar, 2012), it is clear
that instructors need to improve their instructional approaches to teaching the importance of
cultures in the classroom. Clearly, a gap of 50% or more signifies a need for research that
supports the knowledge, strategies and implementation of global education curriculum to ensure
student mastery of global education competencies. As such, a gap analysis, adapted for a needs’
analysis, study is ideal to provide the tools necessary to support teacher instruction.
For the purpose of this study, instructors are established as main stakeholders. Instructors
of K-12 students promote academic success by seeking guidance to create a working definition
of global education competence in relation to their current student population, seeking innovative
strategies, designing appropriate lessons and assessing students in the relevant benchmark areas.
Teachers do not currently have a specific curriculum plan in place to ensure student proficiency
in global education competencies, nor have they been provided with the knowledge necessary to
create the curriculum. Therefore, the current gap is 100%.
Purpose of the Project and Questions
The purpose of this project is to conduct a gap analysis to examine the root needs of the
problem, which is: low student achievement in areas pertaining to global education
competencies. The analysis focuses on needs for this problem related to gaps in the areas of
knowledge and skill, motivation, and organizational issues for students and teachers. The
analysis begins by generating a list of possible or assumed needs and then examines them
systematically to focus on actual or validated needs. While a complete gap analysis would focus
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24
on all stakeholders, for practical purposes, this analysis focuses solely on teachers as the
stakeholders.
Questions that will guide this study include:
1. What are the knowledge, motivation, and organizational needs for instructors to
implement all global education competencies across curricular content areas?
2. What are the knowledge, motivation and organizational solutions to those needs?
Methodological Framework
In order to research the potential needs of and address potential solutions for the lack of
global awareness amongst students, Clark and Estes’s (2008) gap analysis, adapted for needs’
analysis, are implemented. This analysis offers a systematic, analytical qualitative case study
with descriptive statistics approach that helps to clarify organizational goals and identify the
needs for reaching the goals stated by the organization. The purpose of the study is to assess the
current status of teacher’s knowledge, motivation and organizational resources and to identify
any existing needs to provide support during the implementation process. The language of needs
and gaps is used interchangeably throughout the study. Progression of this study is determined
by the Academic Dean’s completion of global education competency curriculum as this has
informed the data collection instruments. The teachers are surveyed about the key knowledge
pieces required to implement the curriculum, their motivation, and the organizational resources
needed to sustain the new curriculum. Additionally, surveys questioned teachers’ experiences
with past trainings at the school. This study examined effective teacher professional growth
opportunities to facilitate understanding of these global education competencies. Quality
training programs that lead to sustainability of new initiatives are also explored. Moreover,
assumed needs to reach the performance goals are generated based on personal knowledge and
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25
related literature. These needs are validated by surveys, interviews, literature reviews and
document analysis. Research-based solutions are recommended and evaluated in a
comprehensive manner. The outcomes of this research help to assess what teachers need in order
to successfully implement global education competencies for students.
Definitions
Global competence: “Possession of the knowledge, skills, and disposition to understand
and act creatively and innovatively on issues of global significance.” This concept is sometimes
referred to as “global literacy,” but the meaning is the same (McElvain & Stephanidis, 2011).
Global education: The act or process of acquiring global competence. This concept is
sometimes referred to as global learning or international education, but the meaning is the same.
Global education strategies: Implementation of best practices in leadership, resources,
teacher preparation and professional development, curriculum, and instruction to ensure globally
competent students (Graduation Performance System, Asia Society, n.d.).
Organization of the Dissertation
The present dissertation is organized into five chapters. This chapter provided key
concepts and terminology commonly found in a discussion about global education competencies
and the nation’s view on their place in the world. The organization’s mission, goals and
stakeholders were introduced, as well as the initial concepts of gap analysis. Chapter 2 provides
a review of current literature surrounding the scope of the study. The topics of global education
competencies, global migration, changes in world economy, implementation of global education
competencies, definitions of global competencies, colleges and universities, K-12 schools,
curriculum across content areas, characteristics of a globally competent school and barriers to
assessing global competence are addressed. Chapter 3 details the assumed and validated needs
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for this study as well as the gap analytic methodology when it comes to choice of participants,
data collection and analysis. In Chapter 4, the data and results are assessed and analyzed.
Chapter 5 provides solutions for closing the perceived gaps based on data and literature,
recommendations for a plan to implement the solutions. Chapter 5 also concludes the dissertation
with a synthesis of the study’s results and recommendations for a summative evaluation of the
implementation plan.

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CHAPTER 2
REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
One of the most challenging issues facing educational leaders in the twenty-first century
is how to prepare children with the skills and mindset to be globally competent. As colleges and
universities receive pressure to provide students with the needed education to successfully
contribute to the global market place, K-12 schools in turn feel pressure to prepare students for
this changing college curriculum.
An overview of the issues facing globalization and how these issues directly relate to K-
12 school curriculum are examined in this chapter. Next, a review of literature surrounding
leadership strategies and teacher training as it relates to the implementation and sustainability of
new policy initiatives are presented to serve as a foundation for organizational response to
globalization.
Globalization
The Global Imperative
Americans’ view of themselves in relation to their position in the world has consistently
changed over the past forty years. For the first time since 1974, the majority (53%) of
Americans said in 2013 that the United States played a less important role on the international
stage (Botti, 2013). Despite this realization, Americans are not necessarily ready and willing to
value the relationships created beyond their nation’s borders. Many of the United States’ top
goals continue to be driven by domestic concerns, including terrorism, jobs, and energy (Botti,
2013).
According to the video report based on the findings from the Pew Research Center,
Americans see the United States as military rulers but regard China as superior in economic
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strength (Botti, 2013). LeLoup (2009) stated that the fate of the United States as a global leader
will be determined by the “ability of rising nations to compete across all dimensions of power;
however it is anticipated that the nation’s relative power position in the world will erode” (p. 26).
Americans’ belief that the United States is the only powerhouse in economics, military force and
innovation is becoming obsolete, leaving 77% of Americans to consider the importance of
having more involvement in the global economy, culture, and technological advances (Botti,
2013). The majority of Americans believe that the nation should be more globally involved.
This involvement starts with our younger generations, and is best taught through our educational
system.
The United States is not alone in recognizing the importance of preparing students for
global networking. The European Council recently proposed a framework for global education.
This council’s vision for global education is thought to encompass education for human rights,
sustainability, peace and conflict prevention, interculturality, and citizenship (Mansilla &
Jackson, 2011). Many individual nations already have such global education programs in place.
In Great Britain, the Global Partnership Schools program links U.K. schools with numerous
other countries. In Sweden, the Global Citizen Program prepares students, teachers, and school
leaders to understand countries of significant importance to Sweden’s future. China and India
prepare students and citizens for the globalized world in a myriad of ways, including study
abroad programs, and engagement in sustainable development, corporate social responsibility,
economics and finance (Mansilla & Jackson, 2011). In the United States, the Partnership for 21
st

Century Skills, an advocacy coalition of educators, has identified global awareness as one of the
six core skills that all students need to acquire (Reimers, 2009). Individual schools, districts,
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states and countries worldwide have recognized the importance of preparing citizens to
appreciate the world’s diverse cultures and global economic markets.
Change in world economy. The picture of the workforce has changed in the twenty-first
century. Local labor markets dominated the pre-industrial era and small town economies fueled
the job market for Americans in the twentieth century (Carnevale, 2009). Gradually, however,
the need for economic order in both capital and labor markets created a new national economic
class starting with banks and railroads (Carnevale, 2009). Banks and railroad industries took
small town economies to national level businesses. Industries that once thrived in small towns,
such as farming, mining, and logging, grew to the national scale and these enterprises suddenly
needed investment capital. If we look to schools as key preparation institutions for the job
market, the work force demands new preparation and skills to provide qualified workers. A
reduction in the need for unskilled labor shifted to an increased need for those who are more
highly educated, a knowledge economy (Abd-El-Khalick, Alexander & Anderson, et al., n.d.).
The knowledge economy does not only belong to the post-industrial era, but it is also post-
national in nature (Carnevale, 2009). As such, future jobs will demand specialized knowledge
and skills, including the ability to navigate matters of global significance rather than national
significance.
The face of the business world has also changed, with companies headquartered in one
country employing workers across many different countries — a direct contrast to the localized
nature of the former industrial society. Purchases, manufacturing and transactions are aided by
Internet communication. Incentives for foreign investment result in rapid speed productivity and
cost effectiveness. These are ordinary interactions on the global market. The global interaction
of ideas, goods, people and capital has leveled the playing field for workers all over the globe.
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Globalization is the process of international integration arising from the interchange of
world-views, products, ideas, and other aspects of culture (UNESCO, n.d.). Further defined by
UNESCO’s researcher, Martin Albrow (2000), globalization refers to all those processes by
which the peoples of the world are incorporated into a single world society, global society.
Globalization is most often defined in economic terms. As a result of globalization, the world
“economy is projected to be 80% larger in 2020 than it was in 2000” (National Intelligence
Council, 2004, p.11). Due to this shift, today’s employers seek qualified workers willing to work
in remote locations, for competitive salaries (Mansilla & Jackson, 2011). Jobs that require
expert thinking, complex communication skills and critical reasoning are gaining demand across
the globe (Mansilla & Jackson, 2011). Michael Peters (2007) theorizes that countries that have
supported investment in education and life-long learning and by investing heavily in research
and development are well positioned to take advantage of new global markets. At the beginning
of the twentieth century, only 5% of the jobs in the United States required specialized knowledge
(Mansilla & Jackson, 2011). However, by 2009, at least 70% of those jobs required highly
trained critical thinkers and collaborators (Mansilla & Jackson, 2011). The world economy has
indeed changed, and with it, so has the face of the global workforce.
Global migration and advantages of diversity. World migration is apparent in diverse
labor markets and production zones across the globe, which drives education reform to prepare
youth for a world in which diversity is the norm. As of 2013, there were 40 million foreign-born
people residing in the United States — more than at any other time in our history (Asia Society,
“Mapping the Nation”, n.d.). The rapid increase in the United States foreign-born population
from 9.6 million in 1970 (Gibson & Lennon, 1999) to 40 million in 2013 reflects the high level
of international migration in recent decades (Asia Society, “Mapping the Nation”, n.d.). In 2010,
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31
the total number of migrants in the world was close to 214 million (Asia Society, “Mapping the
Nation”, 2013).
The presence of diversity in the marketplace creates opportunity. MacDonald and Media
(Johnson & Media, n.d.) take a close look at the advantages of a diverse workforce. The data
gathered suggests that organizations often benefit from the differing perspectives and
experiences in a diverse workforce. Employment recruiters are widening the talent pool if they
recruit employees based on their relevant qualifications and experience, instead of limiting their
search to certain cultural backgrounds. Organizations employing workers with cultural and
language skills that can lead to greater reach for the business is a true benefit (Johnson & Media,
n.d.). Physical location of the applicant is becoming irrelevant (Johnson & Media, n.d.) due to
technology and the ability to reach a global audience.
In their 2003 study of two hundred different companies, the European Union
Commission found three areas where diversity increased profits, including marketing, operations
and innovation (Amadeo, 2013). In light of the evident advantages diversity can offer, the
establishment of a diverse workforce is a priority for most companies who wish to build trust in
their brand with a diverse target market. Valuing diversity gives organizations the freedom to
attract the best talent from around the globe. Moreover, by attracting a diverse workforce,
companies are able to stay more in tune with innovation occurring worldwide to ensure that their
product remains relevant and desirable. Certain corporations achieve and maintain a global
reach and diverse workforce better than others. For example, Google has 62% of the global
search market share, which means that it is used by people in more than 200 countries (Amadeo,
2013). The majority (58%) of Johnson and Johnson’s operations are housed outside of the U.S.
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The so-called “Millennial” generation (ages 12-33) is growing up in a diverse society.
The Millennials are also the next generation in the workforce as many of them are just
graduating from U.S. educational institutions. While diversity in the workplace is celebrated for
the ways in which it benefits an organization, the question remains whether educational
institutions are adequately preparing students to enter this diverse job market. The world for
which we are now preparing our youth is markedly different from the industrial world in which
our public school systems were created (Mansilla & Jackson, 2011).
As schools prepare students to enter this diverse job market, offering exposure to
diversity and teachings of global competencies deepens students’ understanding and encourages
a look beyond stereotypes associated with differences in language, culture, race and color.
Jackson states in an article written by Edward Graham (2013),
to prepare students for jobs and for citizenship in a globalized environment where success
really requires the complex thinking skills and communication skills and collaboration
with people, particularly from other backgrounds, and really a fundamental understanding
of today’s world and how it works (p. 1)
is essential to employment success in an interconnected world. Moreover, the presence of
diversity teaches students to be more open and accepting of things that are different and,
therefore, makes populations more adjustable and unbiased. By educating students in this way,
opportunities for future employers to benefit from differing perspectives and cultural
understandings provides tangible benefits.
Global Education
For the purpose of this study, global education refers to competence in the capacity and
disposition to understand and act on issues of global significance (Mansilla & Jackson, 2011). A
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proficient student will be able to investigate the world beyond their immediate environment,
recognize perspectives, others’ and their own, communicate ideas effectively with diverse
audiences and take action to improve world conditions (Mansilla & Jackson, 2011). Global
education competencies were designed to be integrated into core content areas instead of a
collection of independent skills. Teachers are tasked with the job of preparing students to
become proficient readers, writers, mathematicians, scientific thinkers, and historians while
engaging students in reflection of their learning as it connects to the world stage.
The Implementation of Global Education
K-12 schools. Kindergarten to grade twelve schools in the United States demonstrate a
desire to add international links to their curricular programs. The economic, social, and
educational issues of the twenty-first century call for solutions based on international concepts,
problems and solutions that are built upon proficiencies related to interconnectivity.
Although researchers and instructors alike now recognize the importance of global
education competencies, the debate continues regarding the best avenues for successful
implementation. From inception, experts (Fischer, 2011; Jackson, 2011; Hunter, White &
Godbey, 2006) believed that infusing a global perspective across content areas was the most
beneficial strategy. While schools see the value of incorporating global as part of the school
fabric, the challenge is to ensure that it is properly woven in and not tacked on as an extra
(Miller, 2011). The available evidence (Graham, 2013) suggests Common Core Standards,
developed to provide common student achievement standards across the country, is potentially a
launching pad for developing global competence, and by the same token, developing global
competence can be the way in which educators actually enable kids to think critically, a
fundamental component of the Common Core Standards (Jackson, 2013).
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The dominant argument among educators for implementing global education
competencies in our schools rests upon the assumption that such curriculum gives students an
advantage in the global job market. This kind of case goes back to the question of what
knowledge is of most value. A nationwide poll of registered voters by the Partnership for 21
st

Century Skills showed that 80% say that the skills students need to learn to be prepared for the
jobs of the 21
st
century are different from what they needed 20 years ago and include: critical
thinking, problem-solving, global awareness, and technology skills (National Education
Association [NEA], n.d.). Not all parents are convinced by this argument, however, because
they do not anticipate that their children will work in the global economy and thus do not place
value in cultivating a global perspective within the classroom. As reported in the National
Education Association document, according to a 2010 study — the American Management
Association, 2010 Critical Skills Survey — the Four Cs (proficiency in communication, creating,
critical thinking, and collaboration) will become even more important to organizations in the
future (NEA, n.d.). The report further states, 75.7% of executives who responded “believe these
skills and competencies will become more important to their organizations in the next three to
five years, particularly as the economy improves and organizations grow in a global
marketplace” (NEA, n.d., p. 6). Instead, many still regard higher test scores in reading, writing
and arithmetic as the keys for improving student education. As such, when discussing global
education competencies with K-12 parents, the argument needs to be framed differently, with an
emphasis on strengthening these important content areas and suggesting how they relate to the
global community. Instead of speaking in terms of future career goals or economic need, the
discussion must be framed in terms of something much more tangible and valuable for K-12
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students: opportunities to enhance communication skills and critical thinking to affect global
issues of great significance.
Another major difficulty — or barrier, perhaps — in global education competency
curriculum implementation in K-12 schools lies in appropriately defining global education and
the relevant terminology itself. A survey administered to a group of 150 school principals
confirms their limited knowledge of global education competencies (Reimers, 2009).
Furthermore, when principals were asked if teachers agreed on the definition of global education
competencies, only 3% of teachers strongly agreed, while 50% disagreed. The survey results
indicated that educators’ lack of understanding of global competency was a significant constraint
to developing global education competencies. Moreover, the survey also indicated that 75% of
teachers did not regard global competency as a priority, while 65% stated that their school
provided insufficient opportunities for students to develop global competencies (Reimers, 2009).
While it may be difficult to change the minds of an inward-thinking nation, research has
demonstrated an increased necessity to “understand and address global issues, and educators
must re-examine their teaching strategies and curriculum so that all students can thrive in this
global and interdependent society” (Van Roekel, 2010, p. 1).
In the five years since this survey, global education competence has received renewed
focus among educators as the world around us grows more interconnected and a clear global job
market emerges. Organizations such as Partnership for 21
st
Century Skills, Asia Society, U.S.
Department of Education, World Savvy, and numerous not-for-profit research agencies have
effectively achieved a much broader consensus in the educational field around the need for
global competencies. For example, National Education Association has worked tirelessly to
emphasize the importance of global education competencies by making connections between
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36
Common Core State Standards, the four C’s (critical thinking, communication, collaborations,
and creativity) described by 21
st
century education and global education competencies (NEA,
n.d.). Rising to the surface of this integrated curriculum are teaching strategies to develop and
support progressive educators making efforts in the implementation process of global education
competencies.
In general, students demonstrate global competence at a foundational level through
awareness and curiosity about the world around them and how it works. Specifically, globally
competent students are able to perform the following four competencies: investigate the world,
recognize perspectives of others and their own, communicate ideas effectively with diverse
audiences, and take action to improve conditions (Mansilla & Jackson, 2011). However listed as
isolated ideas, it is noted the most effective approach is through the integration of these concepts.
Qiang (2003) also provided approaches relevant to the framework of global education
competencies. These approaches are specific to higher education institutions; however, their
influence can be seen equally relevant to K-12 independent schools. Qiang’s (2003) research
recommends an “activity approach” that fosters activities related to global education curriculum
for students and the opportunity for faculty to exchange practical activities through virtual
classroom observations. The “ethos approach” underlines a culture that values global
perspectives, while the “process approach” works to integrate global competencies into teaching,
research and service. Finally, the “competency approach” stresses development of skills,
knowledge, attitudes and values in students and faculty. Like Mansilla and Jackson’s (2011)
proposed foundational descriptors of global competence, each of Qiang’s (2003) approaches hold
value separately, although integration of all recommended approaches bears the most promise for
K-12 global education competencies.
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Understanding issues of international concern such as global warming, the world’s job
market, sustainability, population growth, health and human development, cultural identity and
diversity, among others, calls for an accurate and flexible understanding of literature, history,
economics, mathematics, biology and the arts to provide a powerful lens through which to
interpret the world (Mansilla & Jackson, 2011). Clearly, neither students nor educators can fully
master the abundance of information related to the twenty-first century world, but gaining global
competence is not merely about grasping vast amounts of information. Rather, it works to
enlighten students about particular issues in the world and teach them the skills they need to
communicate effectively with diverse audiences and create positive change.
Colleges and universities. The drive for colleges and universities to move toward
implementing global competencies varies greatly. Institutions of higher education justify the
implementation of global education competence in a myriad of ways, including the need to
prepare graduating students for a global economy, to strengthen their school’s reputation as a
global competitor on the higher education stage, or to provide a greater number of opportunities
for students to engage outside their campus environment (Wade, 2012). Another justification
given is the need to provide students with an opportunity to expand their skills, knowledge and
attitudes to ensure greater depth of global understanding and perspective (Hudzik, 2011).
Underlying these justifications is a desire to encourage students to gain a better understanding of
the diverse culture represented on any given American university campus today.
American colleges and universities maintain some consensus about what knowledge and
skills are attractive to employers around the world. Clearly, global education competencies will
not look the same at all colleges and universities. Each institution will need to ask several
important questions to steer their efforts in globalizing their institution: Why do we need to look
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38
at curriculum with a global lens? What are our goals and how do they fit our overall mission as
an institution? What will our students gain by educating for a global society? The foundational
steps taken by colleges and universities are not unlike those to be taken for global education
competencies at the K-12 education level. The study will work to expand upon the research used
to implement global education competencies in higher education and make connections to the K-
12 education system.
Curriculum: Global Education Across Content Areas
A globally focused curriculum is one that is interwoven into all content areas and allows
students to demonstrate how core knowledge and skills may be employed to address important
world problems. Research done at Indiana University (Reese & Horgan, 2013) develops the
claim that “segregated subject areas can become integrated through global project work and
attention to the connections that need to be made between technology, pedagogy, and content
knowledge in 21
st
century classrooms” (p. 79). A school’s approach to identifying the
curriculum and engaging students in instruction and assessment are foundational to incorporating
global competence as a key element of school reform (Mansilla & Jackson, 2011). In the
broadest context, topics to engage students that address global challenges, globalize specific
content areas for learning, make connection to universal themes, sift through global history and
provide learning through international collaborations, will empower schools to look beyond their
immediate surroundings and aid students’ recognition of their significance in the world (Mansilla
& Jackson, 2011). Knowledge, values and skills developed in one content area can enhance
learning in others (Rae, Baker, & McNicol, 2011). For example, when studying global water use
issues, students study how water is collected and stored in their home country (geography, social
studies and technology), write about why safe, clean water is important (health, writing, science
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39
and social studies), learn how to compare amounts of water and measurement tools used in
determining water levels (mathematics), and create a visual graphic (art). The key is for teachers
to ensure that instructional units and approaches complement each other, reinforcing learning
emphases, values and skills (Rae et al., 2011).
Implementing the curriculum. The following sections explain global competence and
its application across specific content areas within a K-12 organization. For the purpose of this
curriculum design, the researchers (Mansilla & Jackson, 2011) defined global competence as the
capacity and disposition to understand and act on issues of global significance. Asia Society, in
collaboration with the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and EdSteps, formulated
a matrix for each content area in current school curriculum and their connection to global
education competencies.
Language arts. Connecting across continents to encourage multiple perspectives on
different literary works offers a broader perspective and varied cultural context. Students are
asked to explore a range of domestic and international texts and media and identify and frame
researchable questions of local, regional or global significance. International book clubs are
formed to enhance perspectives of classic literature or to explore literature important to different
cultures and societies. Students with global competence are able to explain how cultural
interactions within and around text are important to situations, events, issues or themes. The
ability to communicate ideas effectively to diverse audiences requires an in-depth look at various
cultures and their moral considerations when engaging with literature. Ultimately, the hope is
that students will use language arts skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking) to advocate
for and contribute to improvement on a local, regional and global level (Mansilla & Jackson,
2011).
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Math. Young children explore the origins of counting across ancient civilizations and
connect it to how math is taught today. Globally competent students will recognize and express
mathematical and statistical representations through appropriate language to effectively
communicate with diverse audiences. Students will be asked interpret and apply the results of
mathematical or statistical analyses in order to develop and defend an argument about globally
significant issues. Students who are globally competent are encouraged to be curious about how
mathematical equations have been used in the history and culture of various countries.
Science. Asking students to explore scientific discoveries made by various countries and
how these discoveries have influenced the United States is a topic driving Science, Technology,
Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) curriculum across the nation. Naturally, the
interconnectedness of these curriculum topics has long been relevant to global competencies.
Like many other STEM-related topics, space travel, medical research, and technological
engineering cannot be spoken of without a discussion of their global relevance and influence.
Because these topics are globally connected, it is important that students are able to use varying
scientific practices, behaviors, and strategies to verbally and non-verbally communicate scientific
information effectively to diverse audiences, including the international scientific community
(Mansilla & Jackson, 2011).
Social studies. Encouraging students to embrace a broader definition of social studies
relating to their place in the world empowers students to think with a global perspective. For
obvious reasons, social studies is the area in which teachers find it easiest to implement global
competencies. As a part of social studies curriculum, the ways that individuals, societies, events,
and the development of knowledge are influenced by the interaction of ideas, goods, capital and
people is analyzed.
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Arts. The arts are used daily to inform global clarity through performing, musical, visual
and digital art, which fosters students’ creativity and discovery. Students use the arts to
recognize the perspectives of others and themselves. Moreover, students are encouraged through
the arts to acknowledge multiple ways of viewing the world. An appreciation for people’s
differences and artistic expression lends itself to an understanding of others’ life experiences.
Additionally, students are encouraged to examine how diverse audiences may interpret and react
to artistic expressions differently. Through the arts, students that are globally competent identify
existing and innovative opportunities to use the arts both personally and collaboratively to
contribute expertise locally, regionally or globally. Globally competent students will reflect on
how the arts impact understanding and collaboration in an interdependent world.
Characteristics of a Globally Competent School
If K-12 schools ensure that high school graduates are prepared for 21
st
century
citizenship, students should be empowered to engage in global competencies and international
understanding (Young et al., 2014). Schools that employ framework as a comprehensive
approach to making global education an integral component to ensuring students graduate high
school prepared for the demands of college, career, and citizenship provide global competency
curriculum standards, teacher support, quality language instruction, and global experiences for
students and teachers (Young et al., 2014).
Curriculum
World language development. Across the United States, a class entering kindergarten
in 2014 will encompass students with diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds, yet the only
language that is typically taught and spoken in the classroom is English. Meanwhile, “20 out of
25 industrialized countries start teaching world languages in grades K-5, and 21 countries in the
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European Union require nine years of language study” (Jackson, Kolb, & Wilson, 2011, n.p.).
Considering this inconsistency between the American and European education systems, foreign
language study should begin in the primary grades and continue through high school, promoting
fluency as an essential component to ensure American students’ future success in a global
society. Disappointingly, only “25 percent of elementary schools in the United States offered
any world languages in 2008, down from 31 percent in 1997” (Jackson et al., 2011, n.p.). This
type of instruction deprives American graduates of the ability to communicate effectively as
professionals on a global scale. The recommended implementation of world language
instruction at the primary level aims to ensure students’ second language proficiency by grade
twelve. When taught a second language, students learn the culture and fabric of the native
speakers as the new concepts are interwoven into language learning. For these reasons, second
language learning is vital to global competency. In a speech given by U.S. Secretary of
Education Arne Duncan (2010), he stated that throughout “most countries, the expectation that
students will master several languages is built into the K-12 system, and beyond” (Duncan, 2010,
p. 1). Furthermore, studies project that “China will soon have the world’s largest English-
speaking population and arguments are made that India has already claimed this title from the
U.S.” (Duncan, 2010, p. 1). If we look at language development as a way to stay competitive
with other countries and their education systems, the United States is clearly falling behind.
Exchanges and foreign travel. There is no substitute for actual international
experiences and developing the infrastructure to promote student and faculty travel or exchanges
in other countries. However, encouraging globally minded students from within the classroom
will enhance the overall knowledge of the school population. Certain new global competency
programs on K-12 campuses begin by providing students and staff with opportunities to travel to
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host schools around the globe. Research by Jeff Wang (n.d, para. 1) seems to support the claim
that sustainable, meaningful international school partnerships provide tomorrow’s citizens and
leaders the opportunity to engage, understand, respect, and collaborate with one another by
gaining a firsthand appreciation of each other’s language and way of life. Often times, students
have the opportunity to experience another part of the world typically through exchange
programs where students spend time immersed in another culture, attending school and living
with a host family. These programs are generally designed as student “exchanges,” which allow
a foreign student from the United States to live internationally with a host family while foreign
students live with an American family, both situations offering experiences in foreign schools
and cultural experiences outside their homeland. Educators committed to implementing global
education seek opportunities to partner with international students and schools in an effort to
provide American students with multiple perspectives on world issues and enable them to learn
from other cultures and societies. Equally important is the work to develop policies that provide
support for and commitment to global experiences for educators and school leaders.
Opportunities for students and teachers to “experience other countries and cultures firsthand will
both benefit them and their school communities” (Young et al., 2014, p. 6).
Partnerships with worldwide organizations. Schools committed to changing their
curricular focus to a globally interactive community often seek networking organizations
designed to prepare students to be globally competent and ready for the global innovation age
through design driven teaching and learning systems. Worldwide organizations of this nature
work to make connections with schools around the world in order to provide a broader
knowledge base and easy access to partner schools, sample lesson plans, collaborative support
systems and pre-designed assessment tools (Global Schools Network, n.d.). Partnerships with
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global education networks also allow for a network of schools, which are equally committed to
benchmarking student success. Round Square, Global Cities Network, Global Collaboration and
International Studies Schools Network are a few of the international organizations designed to
“dream, design and deliver internationally informed solutions to common challenges with which
education systems are currently grappling” (About the network, ISSN, n.d., p.1). For example,
iEARN is run by an assembly of representatives from iEARN NGO’s or non-profits in each
country. There are over 33,000 teachers in the network from over 125 countries (Berman-Dry,
2012). Another strength of iEARN is the teachers themselves. They are the ones who create the
over 200 different projects that are ongoing at any given time. This type of network organization
focusing on collaboration and vision of a common goal offers schools the support necessary to
make transitioning into a globally focused institution seamless.
Barriers to Assessing Global Competence
Despite the importance of implementing global education competencies into the
American K-12 classroom, there exist several barriers to the assessment of students’ global
competence.
Accountability and Assessment
Accountability and assessment are clearly the most under-researched areas of global
education competencies, and their implementation within school systems continues to lag behind
the implementation of other global education elements. The lack of quality assessment tools to
measure students’ global competence has prevented a true integration of global content skills.
Moreover, without valid accountability tools, the fear remains that the justifications for and
proven records of global education’s positive effects on student development proves insufficient
to bring global education competencies to full fruition. The majority of extant research focuses
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on defining global competencies and identifying implementation strategies, but fails to offer
concrete recommendations for assessment and accountability tools.
Furthermore, few independent research organizations have created survey, scenario and
rubric-type assessment tools to aid with the continuation of global education competencies. One
of the only such tools available is the Global Competence Aptitude Assessment (Global
Leadership Excellence, 2015), which works to measure global competencies via thoroughly
comprehensive testing in over “40 countries across 6 continents, and deemed statistically valid
and reliable” (Global Leadership Excellence, 2015, n.p.). The test is based on an “international
consensus definition of global competence as published and cited worldwide in peer-reviewed
journals” (Global Leadership Excellence, 2015, n.p.). The GCAA is prepared in four sections
with each offering a different question style. The assessment pieces offer emphasis on all
regions of the world, with special attention to those countries making significant economic
changes and contributions. If correctly implemented, the GCAA provides K-12 schools with the
data to guide curriculum across all grade levels and offers administration the assessment tool to
guide accountability of global education competencies.
Other than formal assessment tools, teachers’ informal assessment of students’
proficiency in global education competencies is ongoing through observations, measurement of
students’ investigations into the world and students’ involvement in classroom projects centering
around global education competencies. Teachers were asked to consider global education
competencies at the onset of developing curricular units or courses and to invite students to share
about themselves and their heritage. At the time of this study, the lack of explicit assessment and
accountability tools were barriers to positive student outcomes in the area of global education
competencies and the lack of quality feedback sources prevent teachers from moving forward
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with a consistent plan of implementation. Explicit assessment criteria and rubrics help teachers
and students reflect on the work and orient further learning with global education competencies
in mind (Mansilla & Jackson, 2011).
A Common Definition of Global Education Competencies
The literature (Mansilla & Jackson, 2011; Reimers, 2009) demonstrates the difficulties of
coming to a consensus regarding the definition of global education competencies, particularly
across sectors such as business, education, and government. A closer look at the skills necessary
to succeed in the global curriculum that will soon be present in all higher education institutions,
coupled with the values shown in the global economy, leads us to a broad definition of global
education competencies. Broadly speaking, global education competence is known as the
knowledge and skills people need to understand today’s world and to integrate across disciplines
so students can comprehend global events and create possibilities to address them (Reimers,
2009). Although simple, this definition is not totally relevant to each school culture. Despite the
proven need for global education competencies to be integrated into primary and secondary
education, the lack of a common definition hinders implementation efforts.
Moreover, the term “global education” is not universal; although commonly used in
North America, a host of other labels are attached to similar educational initiatives worldwide
(Pike, 2000). Even in the United States, the meaning of global education can vary significantly,
from the effort to provide a broader geographical perspective in the social studies curriculum, to
the effort to equip students with the knowledge to work effectively in the global workforce, to
the effort to immerse entire schools in curriculum content that fundamentally represents the
global society (Pike, 2000). Tucker (as cited in Pike, 2000) developed the claim that teachers are
the main sources that deliver global education culture to students and that they therefore initiate
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the working definitions common to primary and secondary schools. The available evidence
seems to suggest that teachers find it difficult to even define global education and identify the
elements that it encompasses, which proves a conceptual challenge for curriculum development
and implementation (Pike, 2000).
Organizational Change
True organizational change depends highly on school personnel’s motivation levels and
commitment to solving significant issues needing organizational evaluation. Further research is
needed in order to fully understand the organizational leadership model that is best suited to
measure the impact of global education competencies and their implementation on a changing
school campus (Miller, 2014). Miller’s (2014) puts forth the claim that globalizing a school is a
job that needs “vision, passion, and clout: Vision to see where the school must head, passion to
sustain what can be a lengthy effort, and clout to pull it off” (p. 176). March Frankel of Triangle
Associates (Miller, 2014) further states “the essential element is getting the whole school
community — not just the board or faculty or administration — to recognize and endorse the
importance of globalization” (p. 176).
A closer look at the existing literature on transformational leadership informs our
understanding of leadership as it relates to the culture of an organization. First conceptualized by
Burns (1978) in his seminal work entitled Leadership, transformational leadership theory claims
that a relatively “small number of leadership behaviors or practices are capable of increasing the
commitment and effort of organizational members toward the achievement of organizational
goals” (Leithwood & Sun, 2012, p. 388). Research (Leithwood & Sun, 2012) suggests that all
members of the school community are enhanced by these practices. As described by Burns,
transformational leadership makes the claim that organizational members become highly
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“engaged and motivated by goals that are inspirational” (cited in Leithwood & Sun, 2010, p.
388). When members naturally believe, or are persuaded to believe, in an organizational mission
or goals they become inspired and motivated to achieve those goals. Increased interest and
commitment are assumed to result in extra effort and greater opportunities (Burns, 1978).
Of relevance to this study are variations of the original work done by Burns (1978) and
modified by Hallinger and Heck (2010) that highlight four school conditions as variables to
consider for successful change, including purpose and goals, school structure and social
networks, people, and organizational culture. All four variables are influential for
transformational change in organizations. Based on assumed causes, however, the two variables
most influential to change in this study are purpose and goals, and organizational culture.
Purposes and Goals
Clark and Estes (2008) discusses the importance of setting performance goals that
support organizational goals. For the purpose of this study, using the Clark and Estes (2008)
model of goal development guides the investigation of K-12 schools as global education goals
are identified, clearly communicated, and set with concrete deadlines. Clark and Estes (2008)
make the claim that “while goal setting may not be an exciting task, it is often the missing link in
performance improvement” (p. 23). Evidence suggests that goal setting with such purposes
contribute to school effectiveness, the extent to which staff is aware of the goals and the extent to
which they are perceived to be clear, meaningful, useful, current, congruent with distinct
directions, and reflective of important educational values (Leithwood & Jantzi, 1999).
School leadership can make a significant impact on goal development, quality of
schooling, school advancement, and student learning. Hallinger and Heck (2010) findings
support the prevailing view that “collaborative school leadership can positively impact student
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learning” (p. 95). Thoughtful leadership contributes to learning through the development of
clear goals and, as Rueda reports (2011), “sometimes people give up trying to achieve their goals
simply because the goals are too vague, they don’t know how to make progress to achieve them”
(p. 43). Therefore, school leadership drives the communication of clear, relevant and obtainable
goals for teachers and students.
Organizational Culture
The data generated by Hallinger and Heck (2010) is reported to focus on the importance
of developing shared meanings and values. Culture is critical to any organizational change, and
is defined as the norms, values, beliefs, and assumptions that shape members’ decisions and
practices (Leithwood & Jantzi, 1999). The literature (Leithwood & Jantzi, 1999) suggests that in
order for leaders to seek organizational changes, they must delineate clear goals to ensure school
effectiveness, understand the existing culture and view the culture with an unbiased perspective.
For the purpose of this study, it is important to understand how leaders and members
view organizational change and their motivation to collaborate to make this change. Given that
the leadership of the identified school has established a desire to make the organizational
changes that support the implementation of global education competency curriculum, models of
leadership support should be explored closely.
Teacher Preparation
Professional development is described as activities school administration provides to
enhance the knowledge and skills of educators. Elmore’s (2002) research in professional
development suggests that these activities for educators, accompanied by incentives, helps solve
institutional barriers to change. Professional development should encompass all faculty and staff,
encourage ideas, values and expertise of these stakeholders and work to gain buy-in to the new
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concepts. Without energy and personal connection for the new policy, the professional
development simply is an exercise in listening and following directions (Elmore, 2002).
Professional Development
Schools that provide ample opportunities for teachers to define global education in
relation to their school site and to grow their knowledge base regarding curriculum
implementation are more likely to see the value of global education for their students. Many
teachers are ready to embrace the challenge of educating for global competence, but others feel
less prepared. Understanding the need to educate young people for an interconnected world, it is
critical for colleges, schools, and departments of education to provide new learning opportunities
and coursework to aid in the development of successful teacher candidates (Moss, Manise, &
Soppelsa, 2012). No matter how deep their passion for developing globally competent students,
teachers cannot teach what they do not know (Mansilla & Jackson, 2011).
According to Asia Society’s document, “Educating for Global Competence: Preparing
Our Youth to Engage the World,” Mansilla and Jackson (2011) describe six characteristics to be
considered when planning for professional development of K-12 teachers. They state that
professional development should:
1. Demonstrate how to integrate meaningful global content and how to incorporate it for
global competence.
2. Demonstrate how to bring other cultures into the school in ways that are meaningful
to age specific students, interesting to faculty and meet the goals of the global
education competency program.
3. Keep activities engaging, actively involving teachers and working to combine good
pedagogy with rich content.
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4. Develop a resource library containing items teachers can reference and use for
teaching materials.
5. Offer frequent opportunities for teacher reflection both independently and with a
group of colleagues.
6. Support teachers’ international travel. Offer scholarship and grant opportunities to
fund such travel experiences (Mansilla & Jackson, 2011).
The United States Department of Education, as stated in the Association of International
Educator’s document, has made training for teachers in the area of global competency a priority
that shares similar characteristics with effective professional development (Moss et al., 2012).
Basic elements of this training include learning about other regions of the world and global
current events, reflecting on one’s own culture and its impact on daily choices, and opportunities
for teachers to study abroad and participate in international internships (Moss et al., 2012).
Teachers today work in a multicultural society. To accomplish the goal of implementing
global competencies, it is essential that schools make an effort to hire and prepare teachers for a
diverse student population (Levine, 2005). Teacher preparation programs have indicated a
demand for coursework in global competencies as a way to better prepare new teacher candidates
for the needs of their future students (Levine, 2005; Mansilla & Jackson, 2011). As a result,
global competencies have been embedded into teacher education curricula and programs across
the country. Leading institutions in global curriculum include the University of Connecticut,
Kent State University, University of Maryland, Michigan State University, the University of
North Carolina and the University of San Diego, among others (Moss et al., 2012). Many of
these institutions offer a global competency certificate that adds depth to their credential
application and resumes. Clearly, a broader understanding within the educational arena
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regarding how to educate students for future success now includes global education
competencies.
Instructor Challenges
The issues of global justice, environment, human rights, sustainability and global
economy — all areas addressed by global education — are typically not major components of
the K-12 curriculum in U.S. schools (Andrzejewski & Alessio, 1999). Many teachers hesitate to
implement global education competencies into the already changing curriculum of the twenty-
first century. According to Andrzejewski and Alessio (1999), there are four main reasons why
educators are not teaching about these issues. First, educators and policy makers do not see the
immediate consequences of global problems — the issues are too far in the distance. Second,
global issues seem immensely depressing and insurmountable, leading educators to believe they
have little or no influence. Third, teachers have been taught to avoid “political” issues and must
remain unbiased and non-controversial. Finally, teachers have not been taught about issues of
social and global responsibility in their own school experiences and do no not have the
confidence, knowledge and skills necessary to make a positive contribution (Andrzejewski &
Alessio, 1999). Therefore, teachers tend to shy away from issue that might cause negative
feedback and don’t approach subject affecting the global stage. However, in respect to the
school’s community, great efforts are made to hit the tough issue head on and welcome sticky
politics to the unbiased stage and bring issues of global significance to the local population. This
position certainly works to their benefit as they move toward global education competence.

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Teachers’ Knowledge, Motivation and Organizational Needs Based on
the Review of Literature
Based on the review of literature, globally competent students are able to do the
following: investigate the world beyond their immediate environment, recognize the perspectives
of others and themselves, communicate ideas effectively with diverse audiences, and take action
to improve conditions (Mansilla & Jackson, 2011). The commitment of all stakeholders within
the education system will be necessary to nurture a globally competent generation. Teachers —
the stakeholders identified for this study — are called on to create professional learning
communities that support collaborative work, and to thoughtfully infuse curriculum with
opportunities for students to see their connections with the world play out. The key factors to be
investigated through available research assess the knowledge, motivation and organizational
goals and how this aligns with the change or innovation desired by the identified school
organization.
Knowledge and Skills
A teacher’s understanding of the school’s vision and mission statement drives the focus
of the school’s curriculum. The mission of the school defines student aspirations and helps to
provide a guide for teachers to plan and accomplish well-established goals. The term “global
competence” has taken on multiple definitions and is described by leading international
educators in wildly varying ways. Moreover, the term has become somewhat cachet in schools,
businesses, and governmental agencies (Hunter et al., 2006). Within a limited body of research,
there is no consensus regarding the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and experiences necessary to
become globally competent (Hunter et al., 2006). The variety of existing definitions has little
commonality and yet, defining global competence is essential to inform teachers’ factual
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knowledge that enables them to build a meaningful classroom program. The definition of global
competence therefore needs to be identified in the context of the school community to ensure
teachers’ readiness to implement global education competencies in their classroom.
Factual knowledge. Driving this study was the identification of potential gaps that could
prevent successful implementation and achievement of student and faculty’s knowledge, skills
and motivation associated with global competence. Due to the fact that the school has yet to
identify global competencies in their strategic plan, nor include it in the school’s mission
statement, and is seeking to implement global competencies for the first time, a 100% gap
currently exists for achieving this goal. Ideally, changes result from systematic analysis of the
causes of performance gaps and are supplemented by necessary knowledge and skill change
(Clark & Estes, 2008). It is the hope that this study plays a part in the reorganization of this
organization and support the performance goals designed in the upcoming strategic plan.
The organization has a conflicting working definition of globalization and, therefore,
setting goals to achieve certain performance is difficult. Without efforts to implement a shared
definition of globalization, programs and ideas about global education competencies will not be
sustainable (Rueda, 2011). Teachers lack agreement as to what specific global education
competencies are to be implemented or evaluated in order for students to be considered globally
competent. Lacking focus in this area leads to sporadic, unrelated travel programs, courses that
offer individualized definitions and personally-driven agendas relating to global views,
assessment tools unrelated to curriculum, and world language courses that never lead to language
proficiency. Clark and Estes (2008) solidify this argument by suggesting, “without clear and
specific performance goals, people tend to focus on tasks that help advance their careers instead
of helping the organization achieve its goals” (p. 23).
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Conceptual knowledge. Anderson and Krathwohl (2001) describe conceptual
knowledge as knowledge of categories, classifications, principles, generalizations, theories,
models or structures pertinent to a particular area (cited in Rueda, 2011). Teachers at the school
need knowledge of the principles associated with effectively designing lesson plans that
incorporate global competencies across content areas. This is an assumed conceptual knowledge
gap, which could possibly prevent the school from reaching their desired outcomes.
Procedural knowledge. It is assumed that teachers within this organization need
knowledge of how to effectively apply and implement global competencies in various content
areas.
Metacognitive causes. There are no metacognitive needs identified from the review of
related literature.
Motivation
Teachers at educational institutions are already under pressure to implement the new
Common Core Standards in an effort to ensure their students’ success and proficiency. Many
teachers do not include global education competencies in these new curricular plans. Moreover,
many teachers view global education competencies as an additional job commitment that goes
beyond normal curricular integration into grade level standards. Levine (2005) states
“international issues are too often crowded out of local and state reform discussions by the
primary accorded to reading, math, and science proficiency” (p. 3). Still other educators feel
that, because their educational systems are examination-driven, it is difficult to alter their day-to-
day curriculum to incorporate global perspectives given that it takes time away from teaching
topics and skills that will be tested (Tye, 1999). Because global education competency is
regarded as “one more thing to do,” there is a lack of motivation among teachers to implement
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global education curriculum. The pressure intensifies as a plethora of school reforms are
implemented by the administration to institutionalize additional workplace demands
(Andrzejewski & Alessio, 1999). Moreover, there is a general need for knowledge of the
importance of global education and how it affects students going forward, which relates to the
lack of value awarded this topic.
Organization
Lack of current organizational policy at the identified educational institution inhibits the
efforts of teachers to implement a global education competencies program. The organization
needs to create a global vision and culture that supports all teachers and administrators. To date,
teachers at this school have varying visions and touch upon segments of global education
competencies within their classrooms in individual ways. If one of these teachers decides to
leave the school, the opportunity they provided in the area of global education competencies will
also be lost. For example, there are opportunities to use technology to reach a global audience
but if the technology teacher leaves, this will no longer be available. There is a need to gain a
broader understanding of how these individual pieces fit into the larger puzzle, or goal, of global
education.
One area that is critical to the implementation of global education competencies at the
school is the recruitment of personnel that reflect a knowledge, understanding, and desire to
promote global understanding in their teaching practices (Fischer, 2011). As curriculum changes
are evaluated, providing international experiences for teachers and administrators must be a
priority (Fischer, 2011). The school must seek individuals with a global perspective, whether it
has been achieved through research or life experience. As the school is faced with the task of
hiring new staff, the school will need to seek these types of teachers. Additionally, the school
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needs to incorporate funds into its budget to provide current teachers the opportunities for travel
in order to afford them with diverse cultural experiences that will inform their implementation of
global education competencies.

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CHAPTER 3
METHODOLOGY
The organizational performance research model used is an innovation model by Clark
and Estes (2008). This study serves as a gap analysis, adapted to a needs’ analysis, for the
identified school, an education institution seeking transformative change.
This chapter describes the specific methodology approach used for data collection and
analysis of research within the framework of Clark and Estes’ gap analysis process.
Purpose of the Project and Questions
The purpose of this study was to conduct a gap analysis to determine the needs that exist
in order for the school’s students to demonstrate global education competencies. The lack of
cultural awareness and a drive to fight insularity led this organization to initiate a Global
Education Task Force to study the research justifications and nearby benchmark schools with
global education competency programs, and to explore the best avenue to start such programs on
their campus. Three independent assessment tools, previously approved by school
administration, were administered to students, each indicating a significant gap between
curriculum taught and the outcomes of students’ cultural awareness and global education
competencies. Based on the previous findings, this study helped examine the root needs of the
gap, which are associated with the need for higher student achievement in areas pertaining to
global education competencies.
Although all members of the school community were essential to the necessary changes
of the global education curriculum, the teachers were the main stakeholders for this study. The
stakeholders’ goal is, by June 2016, for all instructors to implement global education strategies to
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teach the new curriculum across content areas as designed by the Academic Dean and
recommended by the Global Education Task Force.
Questions that guided this study are as follows:
1. What are the knowledge, motivation, and organizational needs for instructors to
implement all global education competencies across curricular content areas?
2. What are the knowledge, motivation, and organizational solutions to those needs?
Framework for the Study
In order to study the potential needs of students’ lack of global competence at this
institution and suggest solutions for those needs, Clark and Estes’s (2008) gap analysis method
— a systematic and analytical approach — was utilized and adapted to needs’ analysis. Since
the organization has not yet engaged in the process of achieving its goal of providing student
graduates with the knowledge and skills to be globally competent, the teachers cannot be
expected to have the necessary knowledge and motivation to do so. The purpose of this study
was to assess the current status of their knowledge, motivation and organizational resources and
to determine existing needs that must be addressed in order for the organization to be successful
in reaching its performance goal. For the remainder of the dissertation, the language of needs and
gaps was used interchangeably with gaps essentially indicating the needs. Assumed needs to
reach the performance goal will be generated based on personal knowledge, learning and
motivation theory, and a literature review. These needs were validated using surveys, focus
groups, interviews, and a literature review. The gap analysis approach is summarized in Figure
1.

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Figure 1. Gap analysis process

Assumed Needs
Often a quick, precipitated decision captures the attention of organizations, and solutions
are implemented based on these initial reactions in lieu of performing a thorough analysis. This
approach to problem solving leads to solutions, trainings, and knowledge that never identify or
solve the organization’s foundational issue. According to Clark and Estes (2008), these quick
reaction-based decisions and the implementation of solutions based on those decisions could be
due to overconfidence, time constraints or social pressure.
Based on general and assumed knowledge, individuals often conjure up presumed causes,
needs and solutions to solve a problem. As a result of their presumptions, the real causes for
performance gaps and needs are often overlooked. Given these circumstances, a thorough
investigation into the needs to alleviate performance gaps and, in the case of this dissertation,
organizational needs should include three components: (a) scanning (informal) interviews with
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stakeholders; (b) learning, motivation, and organization/culture theory; and (c) review of the
literature on the specific topic under question (Clark & Estes, 2008). In order to achieve this, the
gap analysis approach identifies and creates solutions using an evidence-based model.
Scanning Interviews
To gain a better understanding of the problem, assumed needs were identified by the
researcher for the areas of knowledge, motivation and organization. These assumed needs were
briefly discussed based on personal knowledge, informal interviews, school-generated surveys
and standardized test results. The results of these informal assessment pieces drove the
identification of assumed needs.
Knowledge and Skills
Data collected through informal conversations with leading administrators suggested that
the stakeholders lack factual knowledge of global education competencies and in-depth
knowledge about global issues and the global economy as it relates to K-12 school education.
Krathwohl’s (2002) taxonomy identifying factual, conceptual, procedural and metacognitive
theories guides this discussion of assumed needs for teachers’ knowledge. In this K-12
independent school, stakeholders lack the knowledge necessary to understand the needs of their
current student population, which will soon join the workforce without the skills necessary to
succeed in the twenty-first century job market. In order to address these issues, teachers need a
working definition of global education (factual). Additionally, teachers do not possess
knowledge regarding the different types of global competencies (conceptual) or how to integrate
global competencies in various content areas (procedural). Based on the researcher’s personal
knowledge, the teachers who serve on the Global Education Task Force find this area of
curriculum essential to school culture and regard it as a necessary skill package of twenty-first
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century education. Consequently, the task force has utilized valid and reliable research to inform
their analysis. These individuals express a deeper understanding of the basic knowledge area of
global competencies, but overall they make up only 13% of staff members. This need for
knowledge possessed by the majority of teachers may lead to ineffective curriculum design of
global education competencies and a need of confidence for implementing the new curriculum.
Another matter that appears to be a significant barrier is the need for knowledge and
awareness that basic assessments are necessary in order to help modify lessons. Teachers are
unaware of how to evaluate and reflect on their own teaching strategies to ensure student success
in global awareness and global sensitivity (metacognitive). Currently, there exists a gap between
these more complex goals for education (global competencies) and how students are currently
measuring on large-scale global competency assessments (Stewart, 2007). Teachers’ need for
knowledge would affect the quality of the new global education program and curriculum
development. The broad categories in need of assessment are cognitive competencies (core
subject areas), interpersonal competencies (skills students need to relate to others), and
intrapersonal competencies (skills possessed by an individual to help solve problems) (Stewart,
2007). Each category has identifiable sub-categories to enable a better understanding of the
assessment tools. Without a quality assessment program, teachers would be unable to modify
instruction when needed to ensure students’ mastery of skills. This is a key point, given that
students’ level of mastery of global competencies ensures the sustainability of the global
education curriculum.
Motivation
Motivation in an organizational setting is defined as what “gets us going, keeps us
moving, and is our storehouse of experience” (Clark & Estes, 2008, p. 80). Furthermore, Clark
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and Estes (2008) describe three motivational processes that can be indicators of problems for
performance goal achievement. These “indexes” are active choice, persistence and mental effort.
The researchers elaborate that, for most types of motivational problems, these indexes do not
necessarily work alone but are interwoven as one pursues the “direction, persistence and energy
to accomplish tasks” at work (Clark & Estes, 2008, p. 80). In the context of teachers attempting
to gain knowledge with unfamiliar curriculum, motivation is known to influence the direction,
intensity, persistence, and quality of their approach, as well as their success learning basic
knowledge of global education competencies (Ambrose, Bridges, DiPietro, Lovett, & Norman,
2010).
Based on the organization’s triangulation of data results from various student tests, a
focus on global education competencies has arisen as a way to fight insularity at their school site.
However, global competencies have never been included as part of the organization’s mission.
Furthermore, there is a need for motivation among teachers to try new strategies in general.
Until recently, the school had not recognized the significant ways in which global competencies
connect to the basic content area and, therefore, little to no effort has been dedicated to global
education curriculum. Due to the need to establish a clear and concrete goal of implementing
global education competencies, teachers struggle to make global education competencies a
priority within their daily lesson plans. Moreover, there is a lack of agreement among staff as to
which specific competencies are to be implemented or evaluated to guide students in becoming
globally competent. It is also important to understand that, with effort devoted to the application
of new curriculum standards (excluding global education competencies), teachers do not regard
global education competencies as a high priority. Consequently, very few teachers have shown
an interest in global education competencies.
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Organization
Based on school-developed web site and provided documentation, the organization has
identified itself as a “college-preparatory” school. Competing schools in the surrounding area
are forcing curriculum change and the school must follow suit and offer curriculum to prepare
students for the global economy and job markets, or they will lose their edge over other college-
preparatory schools. After the researcher’s informal conversations with the Academic Dean, it
has become clear that the current curriculum has touched on areas of global education
competencies through: (a) partnerships with international schools; (b) connecting with programs
that offer curriculum advice and global connections in various content areas; and (c) utilizing the
diverse parent population to add international days on campus. All of these curricular
components have been performed sporadically and without any written direction or goals. The
design of this study is to provide examples of global education competencies to aide in the
development of a well-designed, mission-driven program to enhance the students’ global lens.
Through the researcher’s informal conversations with teachers, they have expressed
concern about their need for training on the subject of global education. Without formal training,
teachers feel that the efforts to implement global education competencies will continue to be
limited to a subject-specific, intermittent approach to curriculum delivery. Furthermore, how the
school plans to assess these competencies is of great concern. The lack of a clear mission and
identified goals leaves teachers feeling unprepared to implement global education competencies.
Learning and Motivation Theory
As stated earlier in this chapter, Anderson and Krathwohl (2001) discuss the following
dimensions of knowledge: factual, conceptual, procedural, and metacognitive. These
frameworks guided discussions on the knowledge, motivation and organizational barriers that
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might exist among stakeholders. Additionally, information relevant to learning and motivation
theory have been identified by Clark and Estes (2008) as choice, persistence and mental effort,
which influences the motivation component of an organization. A more in-depth study of Clark
and Estes (2008) leads to recognition of the importance of the relationship between stakeholders’
motivation and an organization’s cultural. All of the aforementioned theories will be considered
as the knowledge, motivation, and organizational barriers are discussed.
Knowledge and Skills
Assuming the Board of Trustees approves the motion to add global education
competencies to the organization’s school-wide strategic plan, teachers need to possess the
factual knowledge associated with global education competencies, which is loosely identified as
the body of knowledge surrounding world regions, cultures, and global issues and the skills to
engage responsibly and effectively on these issues. Teachers need to grasp a basic definition of
global education competencies, particularly given the expectation that they teach these
competencies to their students. Therefore, a working definition of the various types of global
competencies is essential. Procedurally, teachers need the criteria for determining when to
integrate global curriculum into the basic skills of reading, writing, mathematics, and social
sciences.
Most of the teachers on this school campus have a long-standing working relationship
with the school, and its basic culture is one of forward thinking and learning. This culture serves
the organization’s staff well as they navigate the competencies and how they apply to their
particular school site. Conceptually, teachers do not possess the basic knowledge of global
education curriculum and how it relates to the students at their particular independent school, but
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with their strong working relationship, this knowledge gap should be remedied easily with the
instruction of some basic information.
Reflection plays an essential role in the implementation process of new curriculum. At
the metacognitive stage, teachers might be unaware of how to evaluate and reflect on their own
teaching strategies to ensure student success in global education competencies.
Motivation
When working with teachers at the identified institution, the informal conversations
indicated their need of motivation to implement the concepts of global education competencies.
To identify these motivational needs, the work of Clark and Estes (2008) and Pintrich (2003) will
be referenced. Pintrich (2003) discussed motivational theories as an attempt to answer questions
about what gets individuals moving and toward which activities or tasks they are oriented.
Motivational barriers and needs are somewhat harder to identify than knowledge and
organizational gaps “simply because fewer performance specialists are familiar with them”
(Clark & Estes, 2008, p. 44). The definition provided by Clark and Estes serves as the foundation
of assumed causes for the identified organization: “Motivation influences three very critical
aspects of our work and private lives-first, choosing to work towards a goal; second, persisting at
it until it is achieved; and third, how much mental effort we invest to get the job done” (Clark &
Estes, 2008, p. 44).
If the needs were within the motivation realm, and the researcher identified that needs
existed to increase active choice, persistence, or mental effort, research conducted by Clark and
Estes (2008) would influence the recommendations. Important to the discussion on motivational
levels is Rueda’s (2011) claim that motivational beliefs come from “others with whom we
interact in the variety of social contexts in the ecological niches we inhabit” (p. 39).
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Beyond the conversation of developing various task forces, one being a global task force,
minor conversations emerged around the concepts of global education competencies. Teachers
need to be made aware of the varying types of global competencies and need to know how to
integrate them into the various content areas. Lastly, teachers lacked awareness that global
competencies — like other curricular areas — require the assessment necessary to provide lesson
modification when needed. Motivation gaps are difficult to assess, however, a lack of knowledge
can negatively influence teacher’s motivation levels (Clark & Estes, 2008).
Organization
Based on the researcher’s informal conversations, four assumed needs were identified
that directly relate to the cultural settings and cultural models of this educational institution.
First, teachers are not required to implement global education topics into daily curriculum
(cultural setting). Second, teachers lacked training in defining global education in relation to
their local school site, and they lacked training in the implementation of global competencies
(cultural setting). Third, as a group, teachers demonstrated attitudes that signify an
unwillingness to do more than they are currently doing with the given curriculum (cultural
model). Lastly, teachers lacked a clear direction or mission implemented by the administration
that demonstrates the importance of global education to the school site (cultural setting).
Summary
Summary tables of knowledge, motivation and organizational problems and their
corresponding assumed needs are found in Tables 2 - 5. All assumed needs are assessed and
validated with the intent to provide insight into the identification, implementation and evaluation
of an effective global education competencies program for this organization.
Table 2
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Summary of Assumed Needs for Knowledge, Motivation, and Organizational Issues
Needs
Sources Knowledge Motivation Organizational Processes
Scanning
interviews,
personal
knowledge
Lacking knowledge of
global education curriculum
Lacking knowledge of how
to implement global
education across ALL
content areas
Lacking knowledge of what
are appropriate topics of
global importance including
when to allow topics of
controversy
Lacking motivation to try new
strategies in general
Deficit in finding value in
global education and its
relevance to new Common Core
Standards
Teachers do not view global
education competencies as a
priority because they lack in-
depth training and teaching
resources on the subject, thus
have low attainment value.
School has not provided
the research knowledge of
global curriculum and
how it relates to core
content areas
Organization does not
provide professional
growth training in this
area to gain more
knowledge
School lacks to provide
teachers with an
understanding of the
school mission to prepare
students for a global
society and economy
Learning and
motivation theory
Factual:
Teachers do not have a basic
definition of global
education competencies.
Further, the teachers are
lacking knowledge of valid
assessment tools to show
proficiency in global
competencies.
Conceptual:
Teachers do not have the
basic knowledge of global
education curriculum and
how it relates to the students
at their particular
independent school.
Teachers are unaware of the
process to implement global
education strategies across
content areas.
Choice:
Teachers are not choosing to
initiate global education
strategies because they have not
seen the importance to their
day-to-day lessons.
Persistence:
Teachers apply sporadic
approaches to teaching global
awareness without follow
through in any certain area
uncertain of any common
mission. Many efforts to date
have been isolated,
unsustainable and focused on
individual teacher’s passions
and connections.
Cultural Setting:
Organization does not
require teachers to
implement global
education topics into
curriculum
Cultural Setting:
Organization lacks
training in defining global
education in relation to
their local school site.
School needs to provide
training in the
implementation of global
competencies

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Table 2, continued
Needs
Sources Knowledge Motivation Organizational Processes
Learning and
motivation theory
Procedural:
Teachers lack the knowledge
of criteria for determining
when to integrate global
curriculum into the basic skills
of reading, writing,
mathematics, and social
sciences. Further, teachers are
unsure of appropriate methods
to analyze the proficiencies of
student achievement in this
area.
Metacognitive:
Teachers are unaware of how
to evaluate and reflect on their
own teaching strategies to
ensure student success in
global awareness and global
sensitivity.
Mental Effort:
Teachers do not invest
mental effort in learning
new global curriculum
strategies to use across
content areas.
Cultural Model:
Teachers, as a group,
demonstrate attitudes that
signify an unwillingness to
do more than they are
currently doing with the
given curriculum
Cultural Setting:
Teachers lack a clear
direction or mission set by
the administration
demonstrating the
importance of global
education to the school site.
Background and
review of the
literature
Conflicting common working
definition of globalization
Lack of assessment tools to
determine student proficiency
in global education
Lack of agreement as to what
specific competencies are to be
evaluated to be considered
globally competent
There is a general lack of
knowledge of the importance
of global education and how it
affects students going forward
which affects the lack of value
to this topic.
Many teachers find global
education as an additional
job commitment instead of
integrating it into the grade
level standards. Because
it’s looked at as “one more
thing to do,” there is a lack
of importance to
implement global
education curriculum.
School has yet to create a
global vision that sustains
any one given teacher or
administrator.
School has not developed a
faculty oriented to elicit
global strategies and culture.
School should but does not
currently integrate
international content into all
curriculum areas.

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Validation of Performance Needs
The remaining sections of Chapter 3 describe how the assumed needs are validated to
determine which needs require further investigation to recommend solutions, and which needs
are determined as not valid enough to be problems and therefore require no solutions.
Validation of Performance Needs Gap: Knowledge Needs
Anderson and Krathwohl’s (2001) knowledge types and cognitive processes guide the
discussion of needs, and research literature, surveys and interviews helping to identify possible
solutions for the assumed knowledge needs listed in Table 2. Each knowledge need is addressed
below. A question was posed to address teachers’ needs to address these knowledge needs at the
school:
1. What are the faculty’s needs to address their knowledge and skills, which could affect
the successful implementation of global competencies at the identified school
organization?
Knowledge needs’ validation. Due to the fact that the school has yet to identify global
competencies in its strategic plan, or to write them into the school’s mission statement, the
school seeks to implement global competencies for the first time. Therefore, a 100% gap
currently exists for achieving this goal, making this dissertation an innovation analysis. Given
the Academic Dean and the Global Education Task Force are pioneering the efforts for
implementation of global education competencies, “it is essential that change result from
systematic analysis of the causes of performance gaps and be accompanied by necessary
knowledge and skill changes and accompanying motivational adjustments” as seen by all
stakeholders (Clark & Estes, 2008, p. 4). As evaluation of needs is processed, careful
consideration of the current knowledge base of teachers at the institution drives this initial study.
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To ensure the sustainability of global education competencies curriculum, the organization must
also provide meaningful and ongoing training on the subject. Teachers are assessed to determine
their prior experiences with policy implementation training. This study conducts a survey with
questions written to assess teachers’ preferred mode of training to ensure proper and sustainable
implementation of global education competencies. The teacher’s level of understanding of the
concept of global education competencies provides the Academic Dean with the information
needed to begin the curriculum development process.
Additionally, a teacher interview process asking school-site colleagues about their level
of knowledge of certain skills and deficits compared to other teachers on their campus would
determine if more knowledge is necessary. Would teachers be able to identify someone with
high level of skill in this area and, furthermore, identify the actual global competencies
highlighted in the lesson? The outcomes of this survey would generate a baseline knowledge
level from which to build solutions. Based on antidotal conversations and the fact that teachers
have not undergone training on global education competencies, the knowledge level of teachers
is assumed to be varied and unfocused. Table 3 provides a summary of the assumed knowledge
causes.

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Table 3
Summary of Assumed Knowledge Needs
Factual Teachers do not have a basic understanding of global education
competencies and lack a basic definition.
Conceptual Teachers do not have basic knowledge of global education curriculum and
how it relates to the students at their particular independent school.
Procedural Teachers do not know how to effectively apply global competencies in
various content areas.
Metacognitive Teachers do not have an understanding of how to assess student proficiency
of the global competencies as a tool of reflection and lesson modification.

Validation of knowledge needs. Based on anecdotal information, knowledge needs are
investigated but not validated. Because curriculum has not been written and training has not
been implemented, it is assumed that the listed knowledge needs are valid. A focus on the
motivational and organizational needs take precedence over the knowledge needs in hopes of
providing reliable and valuable information from which the Academic Dean can design training
and curriculum.
Validation of the Performance Needs Gap: Motivation
Motivation needs of the performance gap are identified and solutions are selected based
on Clark and Estes’s research (2008), which depicts the importance of active choice, persistence
and mental effort in the solution phase to generate increased performance. There are many
assumed needs generated in Table 3, but the two most prominent needs for this study are:
1. Global education competencies have never been stated as part of the organization’s
mission, which is an active choice by the teachers. This is known through personal
knowledge and the literature review.
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2. Teachers do not view global education competencies as a priority because there is a
need for in-depth training and teaching resources on the subject, which is a
persistence issue. This is known through the literature review and motivational
theories.
Additional theories and possible needs are identified in Table 4.

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Table 4
Summary of Assumed Motivation Needs and Validation
Motivational
Problem
(describe what
the motivational
issue is)
Type of Indicator
(describe whether
this is an issue of
active choice,
persistence, or
effort or some
combination) Possible Need(s)* How will it be validated?
Teachers may
exert minimal
effort in
implementing
global
competencies.
Active choice and
effort
Teachers may not find
global education
competencies important
because of the lack of
school mission statement.
Teachers may not see the
importance of how global
competencies connects to
the basic content areas
Teachers may have a low
task value for
implementing global
education competencies
due to lack of clear and
established goals
Teachers may view global
education competencies as
a separate curriculum
component, not something
interwoven into the regular
(already developed)
curriculum. Teachers view
global education
curriculum as too much to
do therefore they have low
cost value.
Survey questions (Likert scale answers)
“I believe further teacher training on the subject of
global education competencies would be valuable.”
“I usually benefit from the teacher training initiated
by my school organization.”
“School leadership has found value in my requests for
teacher training sessions.”
“I work to implement skills and concepts taught
through school wide teacher training sessions.”
“I would like to see our teacher training sessions held
for a shorter amount of time.”
“In my experience, initiatives implemented by my
administration have been valuable to me as a teacher.”
“I prefer new information to be taught through
coaching style training sessions with observations of
model teaching.”
“I prefer information provided in a lecture style
manner with knowledgeable guest speakers.”
“I prefer information to be taught with ample
opportunity to collaborate in small group settings
including grade/subject level compatible teachers.”
“I would be interested in observing a classroom
teacher that has strong skills in implementing global
education competencies.”
“I would be interested in discussing how the
implementation of global competencies has benefited
alumni students from various globally competent high
schools”
“I am too busy with the adoption of our new
curriculum standards to add global competencies to
my daily lesson plan.”
Survey question (fill in the blank answer)
“How important are global competencies in relation to
all the other content areas?
Interview questions
“Do you believe it is important to integrate global
education competencies across content areas?”
“If time permitted, would you be motivated to
implement global education competencies?”
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Table 4, continued
Motivational
Problem
(describe what
the motivational
issue is)
Type of Indicator
(describe whether
this is an issue of
active choice,
persistence, or
effort or some
combination) Possible Need(s)* How will it be validated?
Teachers have
low self-efficacy
about their
instructional
capability in the
area of global
education
competencies.
Mental Effort Teachers may not
confident about
implementing global
education competencies
thus lack self efficacy
Teachers may not feel
they have control over
curriculum development
Very few teachers have
shown an interest in
global education
competencies
Survey questions
(Likert scale answers)
“I believe learning about global education
competencies is important for me to know.”
“I am confident in my ability to implement global
education competencies across at least three content
areas.”
“I am confident I have the ability to demonstrate
respect for cultural differences.”
“I am confident in my ability to understand the
interdependency of concepts such as world events,
conditions, and issues.”
“It is important for me to integrate global education
competencies into my daily curriculum.”
“I believe I have enough autonomy over my daily
curriculum to design and implement global education
competencies across content areas.”
“I am confident in my ability to reflect on my own
cultural values and worldview in relationship to those
of others’ worldviews.”
“Compared to other teachers on campus, I have a very
strong ability to implement global education
competencies.”
Teachers do not
consistently
apply strategies
of global
education
competencies
Persistence Teachers may not view
global education
competencies as a priority
because they lack in-
depth training and
teaching resources on the
subject, thus they have
low attainment value
Survey questions
(Likert scale answers)
“I would be interested in observing a classroom teacher
that has strong skills in implementing global education
competencies.”
“If you knew global education competencies were
important to the administration as a way to keep the
school competitive with other independent schools in
the area, how likely would you be to implement global
strategies across content areas?”
Interview questions
“What do you already know and what do you want to
learn about global education competencies?”
“What types of resources would you need to help you
gain knowledge in the area of global education
competencies?”

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Validation of the Performance Needs Gap: Organizational/Culture/Context
The purpose of this section is to identify the assumed needs for the organizational
performance gaps, propose how to assess these proposed needs and gather further information on
which needs required solutions. The stakeholders’ performance goal is that by June 2016, all
instructors will implement global education curriculum across content areas as designed by the
Academic Dean with recommendations from the Global Education Task Force. Given that this
organization is at the foundational level of implementing global education competencies, there is
currently a 100% performance gap. Table 5 provides a summary of the assumed needs to address
the organizational issues.

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Summary of Assumed Needs
Table 5
Summary of Assumed Needs for Organizational/Cultural/Context Problems
Organizational Problem
(describe what the
performance issue is) Possible Organizational Need(s)* How will this be validated?
Organization does not require
teachers to implement global
education topics into daily
curriculum due to lack of time.
Teachers are busy putting their
efforts into the new state
standards of curriculum
Organization may not have an
effective way of teacher
training
Organization may not provide
adequate opportunities for
teachers to collaborate in
launching new initiatives
School’s Board of Trustees
has not initiated global
education competencies as part
of their strategic plan,
claiming its importance.
• Lack of performance goals
• Competing goals, given the time
constraints, and too many goals
• Lack of appropriate and
applicable training
• Knowledge of its importance has
not been communicated to
teachers
• Lack of an accountability
structure
• Lack of knowledge about internal
training for new skills
• Lack of valuing teacher
collaboration
Survey questions
(fill in the blank answers)
“What can this school organization do
to help all teachers place more
emphasis on global education
competencies?”
“What type of training do you need to
feel comfortable to implement global
education competencies?”
Survey questions
(Likert scale answers)
“I would like to see our teacher
training sessions held for a shorter
amount of time.”
“I have been provided adequate
training in the area of global
education competencies to be able to
implement the curriculum across
content areas.”
“I believe I have enough autonomy
over my daily curriculum to design
and implement global education
competencies across content areas.”
“Teacher training at my school site
provides follow-up learning
opportunities through teacher
collaboration.”
“In past experiences with teacher
training at my school site, the material
was generally delivered in an
understandable manner.”
“I prefer new information to be taught
with ample opportunity to collaborate
in small group settings including
grade/subject level compatible
teachers.”

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Table 5, continued
Organizational Problem
(describe what the
performance issue is) Possible Organizational Need(s)* How will this be validated?
Interview questions
“Can you state the mission or goal of
your organization in reference to
global education competencies?”
“How do you feel about the amount of
time that you have to implement
global education into your daily
curriculum?”
Looking back on implementing new
initiatives, were you satisfied with the
training?
In implementing new initiatives, did
your school encourage collaboration
among all stakeholders?
Document analysis
Collect and analyze the new
curriculum standards to highlight
areas that global education
competencies have been implemented.
Collect and analyze the current
strategic plan from identified school.
Survey question
(Likert scale answer)
“I am too busy with the adoption of
new curriculum standards to add
global competencies to my daily
lesson plan.”

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Table 5, continued
Organizational Problem
(describe what the
performance issue is) Possible Organizational Need(s)* How will this be validated?
School lacks training
opportunities in defining
global education competencies
in relation to their local school
site.
• Global education competencies
have not been recognized as
important to Board of Trustees
• Funding has not been designated
for global education training
• Work overload due to the
establishment of too many goals.
Interview questions
“How can the administration support
and encourage the implementation of
global education competencies?”
Survey questions
(Likert scale answers)
“School leadership has found value in
my requests for teacher training
sessions.”
“I would like to see our teacher
training sessions held on a different
day of the week.”
“I prefer information provided in a
lecture style manner with
knowledgeable guest speakers.”
“I prefer information to be taught with
ample opportunity to collaborate in
small group settings including
grade/subject level compatible
teachers.”
School lacks a clear direction
or mission set by the
administration demonstrating
the importance of global
education to the school
• School’s Board of Trustees have
not initiated global education
competencies as part of their
strategic plan, claiming its
importance
• School Board does not see the
value in providing curriculum
with a global lens
• Global education competencies
have not been considered in the
past—new concept
Document analysis
Collect and analyze the current
strategic plan from identified school.
Collect and analyze strategic plans
from competing K – 12 neighboring
schools, which demonstrate effective
global education competency skills.
Collect a copy of the teachers’ guide,
syllabus or other curriculum material
available.
Survey question
(Likert scale answer)
“I believe I have enough autonomy
over my daily curriculum to design
and implement global education
competencies across content areas.”

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Participants
To determine the need of the referenced performance gap at the identified organization,
all contracted teachers of students in grades kindergarten through twelve were asked to
participate in multiple assessment pieces for best evaluation of knowledge, motivation or
organizational performance problems. There were approximately ninety-five teachers on
campus as of the 2014 school year. All teachers are eligible to participate in the suggested data
collection modes, as each influences student’s ability to view curriculum through a global lens.
The teachers at this school vary in age and teaching experience levels. Approximately
65% of teachers hold an advanced degree, with roughly 15% at the doctorate level. Most
elementary school teachers entered this profession directly out of college, while a significant
number of high school teachers turned to teaching as a second career. As of 2014, roughly 25%
of teachers were foreign born or have lived and taught outside of the United States.
Procedures
A qualitative approach was employed for best results of this study. Statistical analysis
was conducted once all survey results had been tabulated for raw data. Twenty-four survey
questions were administered eliciting answers on a five point Likert scale (see Appendix A).
Three additional questions were administered eliciting a “fill in the blank” response (see
Appendix B). Interviews consisting of twelve questions were conducted with teachers to gather
further knowledge and motivation and the need for organizational resources for implementing
global education competencies (see Appendix C). Beyond data analysis, document analysis were
conducted to evidence the knowledge and skill associated with implementing global education
competencies (see Appendix D).
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The information generated by this research study provides valuable evidence in the areas
of knowledge, motivation and organizational needs to the remaining gap opening for this
organization’s global education competency goal. Mean and standard deviation results inform
the researcher’s generalizations regarding the outcomes of all evaluations.
Interviewees were randomly selected from each school division, while ensuring that
members of each division are represented. Interviews were voice recorded and coded into
themes that mesh with the knowledge, motivation and organization categories. Observations of
teacher’s emotional connections to the subject or questions were noted.
Data Collection
Surveys
Surveys served as a major portion of data collection. They were generated online via
Qualtrics (Information Technology Services, 2015), a professional survey-generating website.
Participants were recruited voluntarily at the fall staff meeting. As an incentive, each teacher that
completed the survey received a raffle ticket to be used in a drawing for one or more gift
certificate prizes. All attempts were made to have representation from all divisions on the school
campus. The target number of participants was 100% of teachers (approximately 95 teachers).
The survey was completely anonymous. To maintain confidentiality, survey results are stored
within a web-based Qualtrics system. Survey responses were tabulated through software-
generated analysis and a copy was made for back-up purposes. All results are kept on password-
protected software. Protocol is presented in Appendices A and B.
Interviews
The interviews took place on the main campus of the school and participants were
interviewed individually and face-to-face. There were twelve interview questions prepared for a
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thirty-minute time slot. These interviews were audio recorded and notes were taken recording
any emotional reactions to questions or comments. Nine total teachers were selected for
interviews — three teachers from each school division. Teacher selections were made based on
recommendations from division heads and teacher volunteers. Question responses were
evaluated for particular themes and validation of these themes were initiated. Protocol is
presented in Appendix C.
Document Analysis
Documentation from both the research site and identified benchmark schools relative to
global education were gathered and reviewed to triangulate results. For the identified school site,
this included the 2012 Global Education Task Force documentation, the Harvard-JRPO
Assessment, and the 2006 California Association of Independent Schools (CAIS)
recommendation and review data, as well as the 2009 Assessment of Inclusivity and
Multiculturalism Survey. For benchmark schools, documentation reviewed included similar
pieces such as global competency exams, mission statements and strategic plans, culminating
projects, and any recommendations by their accreditation affiliate. Protocol is presented in
Appendix D.
Role of the Investigator
The investigator’s role is to take every opportunity to play a neutral, non-biased part in
conducting interviews and surveys. Particular emphasis was placed on the anonymity of
participants to ensure the most reliable and valid responses to conducted interviews and surveys.
As a member of the Global Education Task Force at the identified school, the researcher
volunteers to collaborate with a team of teachers, parents and administrators to initiate the
conversations around global education on campus. The researcher’s role was to provide many of
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these new strategies and evaluate current research on the topic to share with the entire team. The
researcher was a non-biased member of the team.
To ensure equal access to the survey instrument, a computer with the survey prompted
was placed in a neutral location. The researcher did not approach teachers to complete the
survey. The researcher emphasized that participation in data collection is of a voluntary nature
and the right to not participate in the study was clearly stated. All published data results was
completely confidential and stored in a password-protected database.
Limitations and Delimitations
Some limitations result from the design of the study. First, the study was limited by
teachers’ potential need to please administration and, therefore, participants may have given
answers to sway their own social desirability, causing bias as a result. This would be true for
interviews and survey contexts. Second, this study is limited by the fact that it assumes all
participants understood all interview and survey questions in the intended manner. Third, the
observation portion of this study was limited by how comfortable the teachers are being observed
by the researcher. The nervousness of the teacher plays a role in the teacher’s ability to deliver
information to students in a “normal” way. Finally, any statistical analysis was based on a
correlation, not a causational relationship.
As a delimitation, the focus of this study is the identified school site rather than including
many school sites. The primary delimitation of this study is its context-specific nature as it
addresses only the mission and organizational goals of the school.
The study is delimited to examining one key stakeholder group’s experiences (teachers
only), and these results may or may not be representative of other stakeholder groups such as
administration, parents, or Board of Trustees’ members. The value of all organizational
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stakeholders would give a broader result to the study but an in-depth investigation of those lies
outside the scope of the current study.
Summary
For the purpose of this study, an innovation model including Clark and Estes (2008) gap
analysis, adapted for needs’ analysis, provided perspective to guide the evaluation process
included in Chapter 4, with recommendations based on Kirkpatrick’s (2006) four levels of
evaluation. The organization’s Global Education Task Force, along with the Academic Dean,
will use this research to make the claim to the Board of Trustees that a focus on global education
competencies is necessary to add to the new strategic plan and will benefit students’ future
success.
The methodology for this study is one of a qualitative approach and calls for in-depth
analysis. Additionally, this study requires deep investigation into the operationalization of the
institutions goals, the relationship between these goals and the needs for the gap and will
ultimately provide recommendations that will work to close those identified gaps.

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CHAPTER 4
RESULTS
Introduction
The school site has articulated an organizational goal for graduates to achieve a global
perspective through language learning experiences, technology, curriculum designed to enhance
global connections, and global service learning and action. This perspective is driven by the
question: How do we get our kids to cooperate with others around the world (Jackson, 2013)?
The social return on the investment in global education for society is exponential. In the current
project, faculty was considered the main stakeholder, as they are the direct link to students
achieving global competence. The Clark and Estes (2008) Gap Analysis Process Model, adjusted
for needs’ assessment, was used as the framework for this study. The model first identifies if the
problem is caused by a lack of knowledge, motivation or organizational barriers and further
identifies the needs to close the identified barriers. Recommendations for solutions and an
evaluation plan will be proposed in Chapter 5.
As described in Chapter 3, this study used a qualitative case study assessment approach.
The Asia Society Council on Global Education Competencies provides criteria for identification
of the achievement of a global perspective that may be used to benchmark success (Jackson,
2013). Interviews provided qualitative data to help assess faculty needs. Data analysis suggested
the perceived barriers in achieving student success in global education competency by taking a
closer look at the knowledge, motivation and organizational culture that influence the school’s
teachers and graduates in achieving the organizational goal of recognition of a global
perspective. This methodology will support the organization’s decision, under this year of a new
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strategic plan initiative, to make critical decisions as how to move forward with implementation
plans, including teacher training.
Participating Stakeholders
Participating stakeholders in this study were the teachers at the identified school
organization. The teachers were responsible for delivering the curriculum necessary to ensure
global education competence among students. There were approximately 95 teachers from
grades Kindergarten to grade twelve working in various content areas.
Surveys
Of the 95 teachers asked to participate in the survey, 60 teachers opened the survey,
however, 23 teachers completed the survey from beginning to end. The low response rate reflects
while 60 teachers started the survey, once an overview of the detail of the IRB form, fewer than
25% completed the survey. Of the 60 teacher responses, 23 teachers responded to the statement:
Please check an option below to indicate your area of teaching. The answer choices were: Lower
school teacher, Middle school teacher, Upper school teacher or Other. The response of these 23
teachers were 30% lower school teachers, 26% middle school teachers, 39% upper school
teachers and 4% other. In order to ensure anonymity, this was the only demographic data
collected. Through direct email solicitation of the survey by the researcher via division heads,
interviewees were asked to follow a direct link to a Qualtrics-generated survey, posing 27 survey
questions. Twenty-four questions used a five point Likert scale response system allowing for
teacher participants to rank their level of agreement with each statement. The scale ranged from
“(1) Strongly Agree,” “(2) Agree,” “(3) Neither Agree nor Disagree,” “(4) Disagree,” and “(5)
Strongly Disagree.” Three of the twenty-seven questions required a fill-in-the-blank answer
response (Appendix B).
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Interviews
In addition to surveys, nine teachers were interviewed from varying departments (lower,
middle or upper school) and asked questions to further identify barriers affecting the
implementation of global education competencies. Three teachers represented the lower school,
three teachers from the middle school and three teachers from the high school answered twelve
questions posed to generate solutions to the current lack of global education competencies
curriculum effective to show proficiency among students. Data collected from the school website
indicates all nine teachers were considered highly qualified. Eighty-eight percent of interviewed
teachers have spent a minimum of seven years with this current school.

Figure 2. Teachers’ highest level of education

0 1 2 3 4 5
Bachelor Degree
Bachelor Degree plus credential
Master degree
Ph.D.
Bachelor Degree
Bachelor Degree plus
credential
Master degree Ph.D.
Series 1 2 2 4 1
Teachers' Highest Level of Education
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Each interview lasted approximately 20 to 30 minutes in length and delivered in a semi-
structured manner. Initial email requesting participation in the survey also posed a request for
volunteers to be interviewed. From those initial responses, participants were contacted
immediately and interviews conducted within two weeks of the survey launch. The remaining
interview candidates volunteered after a follow-up email requesting their participation in the
interview process. Interviews were conducted in person, on-campus, in individual classrooms
with consented audio recording. All interviews were conducted at the preferred time and date of
the interviewee.
Findings
Research Question: What are the knowledge, motivation and organizational needs for
instructors to implement all global education competencies across curricular content areas?
Results and Findings for the Knowledge Needs
Survey results. Consideration of teacher’s knowledge level of global education
competencies was evaluated based on the taxonomy for learning (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
representing four types of knowledge: factual, conceptual, procedural and metacognitive.
Teacher’s knowledge level was not officially assessed through survey questions, although, one
open-ended survey question designed to assess organizational barriers is discussed below due to
relevant responses to the knowledge gaps. It was determined before the survey launched that
school administration and teachers were at the very beginning stages of investigation of global
education competencies. Therefore, to assess their knowledge of a new subject seemed
irrelevant. However, the interview questions did investigate more knowledge level questions.
Factual knowledge: (Basic components of global education competencies): Do the
teachers know a basic definition of global education competencies?
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Conceptual knowledge: (Concepts and their connectedness to content): Do the teachers
need to learn how to incorporate global education competencies into their current subject
content? Are they aware of world events and how they relate to their student population?
Procedural knowledge: (The process by which curriculum is implemented): Do the
teachers know how to create appropriate lessons to link to global education competencies? Do
teachers have the procedural knowledge to create a step-by- step plan to integrate global
education competencies across content areas?
Metacognitive: (Self awareness, ability to reflect on one’s own practices): Do teachers
reflect on their own cultural background? Do teachers have the ability to integrate their own
background in relation to the global education competencies taught through various curriculum
content?
Using Anderson and Krathwohl’s (2001) knowledge dimension taxonomy, the first
significant gap was found in the survey, fill-in-the-blank section. The purpose of the following
item, “What type of training do you need to feel comfortable to implement global education
competencies?” was to measure the factual, conceptual and procedural knowledge of key
stakeholders. This survey question was designed to elicit fill-in-the-blank answers.
The assumptions are based on the literature review, school’s self generated assessments
and scanning interviews and school reported recommendations from the California Association
of Independent Schools. Of the 23 participants to the question: “What type of training do you
need to feel comfortable to implement global education competencies,” 52% of participants
responded. Although the question is written to evaluate organizational gaps, the responses by
participants lend valuable insights for the knowledge gaps. Teachers indicated a need for factual,
conceptual, procedural and metacognitive knowledge of global education competencies through
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comments shown in the chart below. Table 6 shows a sampling of typical comments, which were
found to solidify the validity of four assumed knowledge causes.

Table 6
Knowledge Gaps Validated by the Question: What Type of Training Do You Need to Feel
Comfortable to Implement Global Education Competencies?
Category Assumed Need Comments Validated
Factual Teachers do not have a basic
definition of global education
competencies.
Anything! Knowledge about
global education
An understanding of what
currently takes place.
X
Conceptual Teachers do not have the basic
knowledge of global education
curriculum and how it relates to
the students at their particular
independent school. Teachers
are unaware of the process to
implement global education
strategies.
Getting the picture—
conferences, seminars, webinars,
required coursework as part of
professional development.
Watching lessons in my
discipline that demonstrate some
of these competencies.
X
Procedural Teachers lack the knowledge of
criteria for determining when to
integrate global curriculum into
basic skills of reading, writing,
mathematics and social studies.
An understanding of how to
reach out to the global teaching
community—collaborative ideas.
Modeling, discussions, then
practice and then feedback.
X
Metacognitive Teachers are unaware of how to
evaluate and reflect on their
own culture and teaching
strategies to ensure student
success in global education
competencies.
A knowledgeable coach using a
circular approach to help me sift
through and analyze my
instructional objectives,
concepts, skills and content.
Need help making culture
relevant to students.
X

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Summary of findings. There was evidence in each area that teachers are lacking a basic
understanding of global education competencies. Based on these findings, the assumed needs
around a basic definition, the concepts involved in global education competencies and their
interconnectedness, how global education competencies are implemented and the teacher’s self
awareness in relation to global education were validated as teachers did not indicate existing
knowledge. It is particularly noticeable in the area of basic factual and conceptual knowledge.
All comments generated answers demonstrating a high level of uncertainty of the basic concept
of global education competencies and, yet, a desire to learn more.
Findings from interviews. Nine teachers were asked twelve questions to better
understand their level of knowledge, motivation and organizational satisfaction. Three particular
questions probed into the interviewee’s level of knowledge of global education competencies.
The following three questions presented in the interview component are relevant to motivation
and organization gaps but teacher responses provide valuable evidence to validate knowledge
needs and, therefore, included below. (Question #4) Do you believe it is important to integrate
global education competencies across content areas?, (Question #6) Can you state the mission
or goals of your organization in reference to global education competencies?, and (Question #8)
Are you aware of your own cultures and identity? How do you make this part of your student’s
lessons and lives? are referenced in Table 7.

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Table 7
Results of Knowledge Interview Questions: Factual and Conceptual Understanding
Question Comments Validated
(4) Do you believe it is
important to integrate
global education
competencies across
content areas?
• Yes
• Unsure what it means—we’ve had like one
speaker on it
• Maybe more appropriate for some grades
more than others, not sure
• Unsure of the definition of global education
competencies
X
(6) Can you state the
mission or goals of your
organization in reference
to global education
competencies?
• 100% of interviewees stated the school
mission exactly.
• I’m unclear if anything is added for global
education competencies
• If you dig deeper there might be something
added on inclusiveness and diversity.
X
(8) Are you aware of your
own culture and identity?
How do you make this
part of your student’s
lessons and lives?
• I know about my own culture but I’m not
sure I make it known in lessons for my
students. X

Although question four was written to elicit information about the teacher’s motivation
for the subject, the answers revealed their level of factual knowledge of global education
competencies to be lacking. Replies such as, “Can you tell me more…just when you say global
education competencies…kind of give me more of an idea” and “Maybe you can help me…give
me maybe an understanding what global IQ competencies are…maybe an understanding…just a
quick understanding what that means?” and “I think we’ve had maybe one discussion about that
so far and when we had that speaker last year…brought awareness of the subject” confirms a
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lack of foundational factual and conceptual knowledge for the subject. Of the nine respondents,
88% required the researcher to define global education competencies before answering question
four, “Do you believe it is important to integrate global education competencies across content
areas?” which investigates the assumed need that teachers do not have a basic definition of
global education competencies. The question was answered with a query by the interviewee
using varying terms like, “Is this global meaning school wide?” Also, answers were given that
were unrelated to global education competencies as defined by the school administration. These
results were in alignment with the comments made in the survey to show a lack of factual and
conceptual knowledge.
In interview question six, teachers were asked to state the mission or goals of their
organization in reference to global education competencies. Without hesitation, teachers could
recite the mission statement of the school. When asked to make further connections to the ideas
supported by the organization in reference to global education, teachers were clear the topic of
global education has not been directly connected to the mission as of yet. Eighty-eight percent of
teachers made reference to digging deeper into the goals of the school, there was a connection
through diversity studies or inclusivity, but as of yet, there was no knowledge of global
education competencies being stated in the mission of the school.
All nine interviewed teachers answered, “Are you aware of your own culture and
identity? How do you make this part of your student’s lessons and lives?” with 100% of
teacher’s answer clearly demonstrating a level of investigation of their own cultural identity. The
interviewee’s factual knowledge in the area of their personal cultural background was high.
When asked if they are aware of their own cultures and identities, all teachers responded, “yes”
with a high level of certainty and could provide a description of their heritage and the traditions
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valued by their family. However, when asked how they make this part of their students’ lessons
and lives, 100% of teacher’s responses were vague or a certain “Not well or Mm — hmm.”
Quappe and Cantatore (2005) express that cultural awareness becomes paramount when we have
to interact with people from other cultures. Essentially, one cannot truly appreciate the cultures
of others until identification and connection of personal culture is investigated and integrated
into the classroom curriculum.
Synthesis of Results and Findings for Knowledge Needs
The gap related to this competency indicated a need for factual and conceptual
knowledge most immediately. According to the conducted research, there were two identifying
factors that indicate a lack of factual and conceptual knowledge. There was evidence teachers do
not have the basic concept or factual knowledge necessary to implement global education
competencies, however, survey indicators show a high level of confidence in their ability to
implement global education competencies. If evidence shows a lack of factual and conceptual
knowledge, procedural and metacognitive skills will naturally be lacking as well.
Survey and interview results reveal varying levels of understanding of the definition of
global education competencies. The examples given to demonstrate their use of global education
competencies were sporadic and vague such as “I try to integrate that as much as I can but I
don’t have a huge background in a lot of different areas.” Teachers tend to show a level of
confidence for the subject but could not lend any tangible evidence of how well global education
competencies are understood. Survey results to the statement, “I am confident in my ability to
implement global education strategies across at least three content areas”, show 61% of the 23
respondents “strongly agree” or “agree.” Although the question was written to determine
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motivation levels, the strong outcome showing a high level of confidence without basic
knowledge could become a barrier to implementation.
The results from the survey indicated teachers claim a clear understanding of global
education competencies, however, when asked in the interview situation, the findings lack a clear
definition supporting the subject matter. The survey showed 61% of teachers had confidence in
their ability to implement global education competencies, however, 88% of teacher’s interviewed
gave vague or unrelated answers to what they already know about global education
competencies.
Interestingly, the teachers certainly reflect on their own culture and, through interview
results, show evidence they have taken the time to learn about their heritage. A research question
was posed to determine the metacognitive levels of teacher’s knowledge shows, of the 23
responses, 87% believed they had the ability to reflect on their own cultural values and relate
them to others’ worldviews. However, interview comments reflected that teachers did not have
the ability to transfer what they knew about their own culture to lessons taught to students and
embrace reflective practices and, for this reason, the need was validated. This lack of factual and
conceptual knowledge could prevent implementation of global education competencies.
Results and Findings for Motivation Needs
Pintrich and Schunk (2002) and Clark and Estes (2008) have suggested that there are
relevant indexes of motivation that objectively assess one’s level of motivation: choice, mental
effort, and persistence. Recent literature on global education competencies and the
implementation of curriculum discusses the importance of teachers’ value for content and self-
efficacy to teach it as factors ensuring students feel more globally connected. Teachers who do
not value global education competencies were unwilling to integrate the curriculum necessary to
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help students feel comfortable on the global stage. Teachers’ attitudes towards global education
competencies impact their interest and effort in implementing the curriculum, their perceived
value, and their willingness to do the work needed to make adjustments to their current
curriculum to integrate global education competencies across content areas (Green & Olson,
2003).
Teachers who do not value or have knowledge of their own cultural background may not
have the same level of value or efficacy when embracing the cultural background of others.
Teachers who have few interactions with other cultures through travel experiences
internationally or within the United States or, perhaps, a strong personal cultural heritage will be
less likely to incorporate cultural perspectives into their teaching (Green & Olson, 2003).
Survey results. The statements presented on the survey help to identify whether the
teachers perceived themselves as valuing the policy initiative put forth by their institution to
prepare students to be globally competent graduates. Many of the questions in the survey section
provide relevant data for both the motivation and organization sections of Chapter 4. This was
designed to measure the effectiveness of the organization to deliver training to its faculty but also
allows us to assess how this becomes internalized as motivational for the teachers. An
explanation of the findings will follow the charts below.
Overall, 25% (7 questions) of the questions on the presented survey were designed to
measure the value level and active choice of teachers with regards to global education
competencies. Statements related to value resulted in means that ranged between 1.70 and 2.78
on a scale of 1 (strongly agree) to 5 (strongly disagree). The statement with the mean of 2.78 was
question 22: I am too busy with the adoption of new curriculum standards to add global
competencies to my daily lesson. Eighty-three percent of the twenty-three respondents marked
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(4) Disagree, which indicates they are not too busy for policy adoption. On the low range of
mean, scoring 1.70, was question 6: I work to implement skills and concepts taught through
school wide teacher training sessions. Of the 23 respondents, 70% of teachers marked “agree”
and 30% of respondents marked “strongly agree.” It can be determined that if teachers were
provided training, they would make an active choice to put into practice concepts presented
during the training sessions.
Teachers’ task value of assumed cause of the perceived importance of global education
competencies shows mixed results. The survey asked, in the fill-in-the-blank section, how
important are global education competencies in relation to all other content areas? In the
response, 42% of comments showed doubt in the importance of global education competencies
in comparison to other content areas. Responses such as “low in the realm of other core
competencies,” or “not sure” or “it is important but not absolutely important” and “not quite as
important” leading one to believe 42% of teachers would not make global education
competencies a priority in relation to other content areas. Additionally, responses indicated
teachers’ view global education competencies as a separate content area instead of its intended
purpose of being integrated into the already designed curriculum, which points to a lack of
knowledge.
However, 58%, a majority, of teacher respondents made comments reflecting global
education competencies were important in relation to all other content areas. Teachers responded
by making comments such as, “very important” or “a successful teacher is one who trains
students to be world citizens” or “I think that global education competence is equally important
as other content areas.” A significant number of teachers are likely to invest in the curriculum
necessary to implement global education competencies as interwoven into various content areas.
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Table 8
Results of the Motivation Survey: Value and Efficacy
Assumed Need & Type Item Survey Question Mean
Standard
Deviation
Active Choice
Lack of consistent goal
Teachers do not find
global education
competencies important
because of the lack of
goal in the school
mission.
(3) I benefit from the teacher training
initiated by my school organization.
1.83 0.72
(12) I prefer new information to be taught
with ample opportunity to collaborate in
small group setting including grade/subject
level compatible teachers.
2.22 0.80
(13) I prefer new information to be taught
through coaching-style training sessions with
observations of model teaching.
2.30 0.88
Utility Value
Low task value/lack of
relevance
Teachers do not see the
importance of how
global education
competencies connect
to the basic content
areas.
(21) I would be interested in discussing how
the implementation of global education
competencies has benefitted alumni students
at various globally competent high schools.
2.13 1.01
(6) I work to implement skills and concepts
taught through school wide teacher training
sessions.
1.70 0.47
(18) I am confident in my ability to reflect on
my own cultural values and worldview in
relationship to those of others’ worldviews.
1.83 0.78
Task Value
Low task value/low
cost value
Teachers view global
education competencies
as a separate
curriculum component,
not something
interwoven into the
regular curriculum
(22) I am too busy with the adoption of new
curriculum to add global competencies to my
daily lesson plan.
2.78 1.00

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Table 9 was designed to give a sampling of the mixed teacher responses to support the
above claims.

Table 9
Results of Motivation Survey: Fill-in-the-Blank (Sampling of Answers Provided): Task Value
Survey Question # 27 Answer samples:
How important are
global education
competencies in
relation to all the other
content areas?
Not quite as important
As our world continues to become globalized with the advancement
of technology, I think that it is extremely important to have global
education competence. I think that global education competence is
equally important as other content areas.
I think the answer to this depends a lot on the grade level being
taught. In lower grades, while global education is something to
definitely think about and try to incorporate, the main content areas
are increasingly important.
I do not believe it should be viewed as separate. In fact, I think that’s
the “problem” with initiatives. They are viewed as “add-ons.” That’s
unnecessary.
Not sure
For history (my field) it is vital. For religion, it is vital. For literature
and arts, it is vital.
In my view, very important. A successful teacher is one who trains
students to be world citizens.
Increasingly important.
Important in an Episcopal School, important in preparing our students
for life beyond our school
Very important

The survey questions represented in Table 9 reflect organizational structure, however, the
results reveal information important to the motivation of teachers and their preference on how to
best implement global education competencies. Through a historical perspective, teachers were
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evaluated on the type of training received and responses reflect strategies perceived motivational
by teachers when seeking and implementing new initiatives. The responses indicate the level of
value each respondent placed on initiating new policy. These statements were separated out to
highlight the connections between teacher motivation and organizational structure. The
responses ranged from a high mean score of 2.41 to a low mean score of 2.00. Respondents were
asked to score each item on a five point Likert scale with 5 indicating “strongly disagree” and 1
meaning “strongly agree.”
Respondents indicated a high level of satisfaction, 78% “strongly agree” or “agree,” with
policy implementation and professional development in the past as proposed in the statement: In
my experience, initiatives implemented by administration have been valuable to me as a teacher.
This signifies teachers value administration’s decision to implement new initiatives, which
indicates teachers would be motivated to support new implementation of policy initiatives and
the training provided to do so.
Although a majority (69%) of teachers responded favorably to statement: I prefer new
information provided in a lecture style manner with knowledgeable guest speakers, it is worth
noting 23% of teachers signified “strongly disagree” or “disagree” indicating motivation would
be higher with another mode of information delivery.
An overwhelming 78% of teachers welcome further training on the subject of global
education competencies demonstrating motivation and value placed on the subject. The majority
of teachers would be motivated to actively choose further professional growth opportunities.

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Table 10
Result Data Relevant to Motivation and Organizational Barriers
Assumed Need &
Type Item Survey Question Mean
Standard
Deviation
Active Choice
Lack of task
value/low cost value
(4) In my experience, initiatives
implemented by my administration have
been valuable to me as a teacher.
2.00 0.80
(11) I prefer information provided in a
lecture style manner with knowledgeable
guest speakers.
2.41 1.01
(19) I believe further teacher training on the
subject of global education competencies
would be valuable.
2.04 1.02

The level of value is high as shown when asked in Statement #20: I would be interested
in observing a classroom teacher that has strong skills in implementing global education
competencies. Responses were overwhelmingly in favor of seeking opportunities to observe a
classroom teacher proficient in the area of global education competencies. Eighty-seven percent
of teachers responded “strongly agree” or “agree” indicating a high motivation level for the
subject if training and resources were provided by the organization.
Teachers’ value for the implementation of global education competencies was evident in
response to the survey statement: If global education competencies were important as a way to
keep my school competitive with other independent schools in the area, I would be willing to
implement global education competencies. Eighty-seven percent of teachers responded as
“strongly agree” or “agree.” Clearly, teacher’s dedication to their institution is strong and a
desire to see it thrive in relation to others in neighboring cities was important. The relation of
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these answers indicating a high value to the assumed cause, teachers view global education
competencies as a priority, could be evaluated further and used as an indicator of how to
motivate teachers to further their knowledge in the area of global education competencies.
Further discussion of recommendations will be presented in Chapter 5.
Clark and Estes (2008) stated “choosing and persisting must be accompanied by adequate
mental effort invested in key work goals” (p. 81). For the sake of this study, measurements were
performed to evaluate the teachers’ level of efficacy. Participating teachers were evaluated in
terms of how much or little confidence they had for implementing global education
competencies, which could be indicators of why the curriculum has not been developed or
implemented. When indicators point to teachers being overconfident with the subject matter,
teachers could have “misjudged their own abilities” (Clark & Estes, 2008, p. 81). Conversely,
when teachers indicate a lack of self-efficacy for the subject, motivation can be lost due to a lack
of understanding.

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Table 11
Results of the Motivation Survey: Self Efficacy (Scale: 1=strongly agree to 5=strongly disagree)
Assumed Need &
Type Item Mean
Standard
Deviation
Self Efficacy
Teachers are not
confident about
implementing global
education
competencies thus
lack self-efficacy.
(14) I am confident in my ability to
implement global education strategies
across at least three content areas.
2.70 1.15
(15) I am confident in my ability to
understand the interdependency of concepts
such as world events, conditions and issues.
2.00 0.82
(16) I am confident in my ability to
demonstrate respect for cultural differences.
1.52 0.51
(23) Compared to other teachers on campus,
I have a strong ability to implement global
education competencies.
2.70 0.76
Teachers see no
control over
curriculum
development.
(17) I believe I have enough autonomy over
my daily curriculum to design and
implement global education competencies
across content areas.
2.39 1.08
(11) I prefer new information provided in a
lecture style manner with knowledgeable
guest speakers.
2.41 1.01
Very few teachers
have shown an
interest in global
education
competencies.
(24) If global education competencies were
important as a way to keep my school
competitive with other independent schools
in the area, I would be willing to implement
global education competencies.
2.04 0.64

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Though some questions above are best suited for data collection about organizational
causes, the statements and responses were included above due to their significance to the level of
value and motivation of teachers. Teachers were asked to respond to five questions on the survey
to determine their level of self -efficacy for the subject of global education competencies. The
survey results showed mixed outcomes. Statement # 14: I am confident in my ability to
implement global education strategies across at least three content areas showed 61% of
respondents “agreed” or “strongly agreed” and 34% of respondents “disagreed” or “strongly
disagreed.” Mixed results reflecting the level of control teachers have over their curriculum was
presented in the statement # 17 I believe I have enough autonomy over my daily curriculum to
design and implement global education competencies across content areas. Responses are worth
noting as 61% of teachers felt they had enough autonomy over their daily curriculum to drive a
change toward global education competencies, 39% of teachers disagreed or gave no opinion.
This mixed response is important when eliciting full teacher buy-in to the policy implementation.
Considerations of how to motivate the 39% of teachers that feel a lack of control over their daily
curriculum needs to be addressed to prevent negative implications to policy implementation.
Additionally, teachers were asked in Statement # 16: I am confident in my ability to
demonstrate respect or cultural differences. The results show 100% of respondents marked
“strongly agree” or “agree.” Furthermore, when asked in Statement # 19: I believe further
teacher training on the subject of global education competencies would be valuable, 78% of
teachers responded “strongly agree” or “agree” indicating a need and desire for further
knowledge, which will lead to motivation.
Findings from interviews. Nine teachers were asked five questions to better understand
their level of motivation for participating in professional development opportunities and the type
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of training that most motivates them to implement global education competencies. The teachers
were asked in Question #2: What type of teacher training would you like to see provided to help
you feel confident in the implementation process (of global education competencies).” The
discussion with each teacher indicated a desire for “time” to develop, implement, and gather
strategies and information. Teachers have a busy schedule, 33% of teachers interviewed
discussed the importance of time and a desire to not waste time during teacher training on the
subject. 77% of teacher respondents discussed being in favor of creating in-house experts, which
would work to train colleagues verses contracting with a third party vendor to provide training.
Furthermore, five of the nine interviewees were motivated to implement global education
competencies when given the justification for “why” they were implementing the policy.
Teachers felt justification for implementation elicited more buy-in from the staff.
Additionally, interviewees were asked Do you believe it is important to integrate global
education competencies across content areas? addressed two assumed motivation causes as
stated in Chapter 3: Teachers do not see the importance of how global education competencies
connects to the basic content areas, teachers do not find global education competencies important
because of the lack of school mission statement, and teachers are not confident about
implementing global education competencies thus lack self efficacy. Only one teacher
respondent (11%) answered the interview question with a confident “yes.” Eighty-eight percent
of teacher respondents answered the above question with a “maybe” answer. Following this
inconclusive answer were questions about the definition of global education competencies or
comments such as, “we had like one speaker on it and that’s it” suggesting lack of motivation
due to organizational priority or lack of clear communication from administration. Lastly, when
teachers responded to the question above, 88% gave an unrelated answer to the question or
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indicated global education competencies was a separate content area finding global education
competencies appropriate for some content areas and not others.
Synthesis of Results and Findings for Motivation Needs
There were six assumed motivation needs investigated through data collection in Chapter
4. Two needs were validated and four needs were not validated. Table 12 shows a summary of
the validated and invalid motivational assumed needs.

Table 12
Motivation Gaps Validated or Not Validated
Type of Indicator Assumed Needs
Validated or Not
Validated
Utility Value Teachers do not see the importance of how global
competencies connects to the basic content areas.
Not Validated
Utility Value Teachers view global education competencies as a
separate curriculum component, not something
interwoven into the regular (already developed)
curriculum.
Validated
Cost Value Teachers view global education curriculum as too
much to do therefore they low cost value.
Not Validated
Self-efficacy Teachers are not confident about implementing
global education thus lack self -efficacy.
Not Validated
Mental Effort Teachers see no control over curriculum
development.
Not Validated
Attainment Value Teachers do not view global education competencies
as a priority because they lack in-depth training and
teaching resources on the subject, thus they have
low attainment value.
Validated

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Not validated needs. The need that was not validated is related to utility value. The
assumption was teachers do not see the importance of how global education competencies
connects to the other basic content areas. Teachers were asked to rate the level of importance of
global education competencies in relation to other content areas. When interviewed, teachers
elicited a clearer definition of global education, however, expressed they felt the subject was
important. According to survey questions, the majority of teachers found global education
competencies important in relation to their overall curriculum. Furthermore, if implementing
global education competencies would make their school more competitive, teaches showed a
high level of motivation.
The second need that was not validated was related to cost value. It was assumed teachers
would view global education competencies as too much to add to their already full schedule
indicating a low cost value. The majority of teachers indicated through survey questions they
were not overburdened by their current workload and, therefore, would be motivated to
implement global education competencies.
The next assumed need regarding the teacher’s level of self-efficacy for the subject
showed contradictions worth noting. According to survey results, a majority of teachers felt
confident in their ability to implement global education competencies across at least three subject
areas. Therefore, this assumed need was considered not valid. However, according to interview
results showed uncertainty of a definition of global education competencies. Ultimately, teachers
show a confidence level higher than the ability to implement global education competencies,
which could lead to lack of motivation.
The final assumed need that was not validated asked teachers to what extent they believe
they have enough autonomy over their daily curriculum to design and implement global
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education competencies. This need was not valid, however, contradictions are worth noting. The
majority of teachers felt they had enough autonomy over their curriculum to design and
implement global education competencies and, therefore, this assumed need was not valid. The
survey results did indicate a significant number of teachers did not agree. This information will
be considered as recommendations are presented in Chapter 5.
Validated needs. The first validated need is related to utility value. It was assumed that
teachers viewed global education curriculum as a separate curriculum component, not something
integrated into the regular (already developed) curriculum. Although teachers made comments
indicating their level of support for curriculum to be interwoven, the majority of teachers still
view this as something to be added on to the developed curriculum. Majority of teachers found
the content area of global education competencies as only relevant to certain grade levels or
particular subject areas. For these reasons, this assumed cause is validated.
The final validated assumed need reflected outcomes in attainment value. It was assumed
teachers did not prioritize global education competencies due to lack of training and resources.
An overwhelming positive response by teachers indicated a desire and need for further training
and resources in the area of global education competencies and the avenues of implementation.
In general, teachers found global education competencies important to the overall school
curriculum especially if it would make the school more competitive among neighboring schools.
Teachers show a motivation for further training and resources and do not feel it would be over
demanding for their current workload. Teachers were confident in their ability to implement the
subject area, however, seek more basic knowledge in order to be motivated to engage in the
implementation. Based on data collection, teachers appeared to be motivated to undertake these
new curriculum changes and implementations. They positively internalized the value of past
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professional development opportunities in relation to innovations implemented by the school
organization. Teachers showed high self-efficacy for implementing global education
competencies, however, did not have the knowledge to facilitate the actions of implementation.
Goals and level of self-efficacy will become more realistic as they gain the knowledge and learn
how this curriculum applies to their student population.
Results and Findings for Organizational Needs
Organizational needs were assessed with consideration of definitions by Clark and Estes
(2008) and the stated organizational needs discussed as cultural models and settings. An
evaluation of the work processes, policies that have been successful, and available resources
were investigated, looking for ways implementation could be delayed or prevent work goal
achievement (Clark & Estes, 2008). A qualitative methods approach was employed throughout
this section that produced findings. Survey, interview and document analysis were performed to
provide substantial evidence to validate assumed needs.
Gallimore and Goldenberg (2001) define organizational culture as “shared mental schema
or normative understandings of how the world works, or ought to work” (p. 47). Clark and Estes
(2008) suggested work culture is “present in our conscious and unconscious understanding of
who we are, what we value, and how we do what we do as an organization” (p. 107). For the
purpose of this study, the role of the individual teacher in the scope of the entire school
community was taken into consideration, duties and tasks outside the direct instruction of
students. Survey and interview questions were designed to provide evidence to validate or not
validate the assumed needs. Additionally, document analysis was used as suitable evidence.
The organizational culture of this institution has changed in the past five years with the
addition of a new Head of School and public demand for a K-12, college-preparatory school as
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an alternative to the local public school district. The school attracts families of high economic
stature. Tuition rates are competitive with only the most elite, college preparatory, schools across
the nation. Essentially, demand for enrollment, even with the high financial commitment, at each
division allows for a highly selective process. Valuing diversity of socio-economic levels was a
priority and offerings of a substantial financial aid package helped to maintain a diverse
population. The culture of the school has, in part, shown an interest in worldly events and
extensive family travel. Since the beginning of this study, the Board of Trustees has granted the
recommendations from the Global Education Task Force to move forward with efforts to
implement global education competencies, which would support the desire to design curriculum
with a global perspective and keep the school competitive with like schools in Southern
California.
Organizational culture was a critical part of successful achievement of the globally
competent students. While faculty, staff and students all have an important role in the overall
campus dynamics, faculty engagement was significant to the implementation success. The
analysis of the assumed needs described in Chapter 3 identified potential gaps in the
organizational structure that could affect teacher’s professional development opportunities,
implementation and student achievement outcomes in relation to global education competencies.
Survey results. The survey questions referencing organizational culture consisted of
eleven total questions (40%) including nine questions answered with the same Likert scale of (1)
Strongly agree, (2) Agree, (3) Neither agree nor disagree, (4) Disagree, (5) Strongly disagree.
The remaining two survey questions required a fill-in-the-blank response. Three questions
provided relevant responses to both the organizational and motivational assumed needs.
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Table 13 depicts the assumed needs as described in Chapter 3 and specifies if the need
was validated or not validated.

Table 13
Organizational Gaps Validated or Not Validated
Organization Assumed Need
Validated or
Not Validated
Organizational Goals Lack of performance goals Validated
Organizational Goals Competing goals, given the time constraints,
and too many goals.
Not Validated
Organizational Goals School’s Board of Trustees has not initiated
global education competencies as part of their
strategic plan, claiming its importance.
Not Validated
Organizational Goals Global education competencies have not been
considered in the past—new concept.
Validated
Professional Development Lack of appropriate and applicable training. Validated
Professional Development Lack of knowledge about internal training for
new skills.
Not Validated
Support Structure Global education competencies have not been
recognized as important to Board of Trustees.
Not Validated
Support Structure Work overload due to establishment of too
many goals.
Not Validated
Resources Funding has not been designated for global
education training.
Validated

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Table 14 summarizes the results for measuring organization and culture. The statement
responses ranged in mean from 3.30 down to 1.83.

Table 14
Results of the Organization Survey
Type Item Mean
Standard
Deviation
Lack of
appropriate and
applicable training
(4) In my experience, initiatives implemented
by my administration have been valuable.
2.00 0.80
(10) In past experiences with teacher training
at my school site, the material was generally
delivered in an understandable manner.
1.83 0.49
(3) I benefit from the teacher training initiated
by my school organization.
1.83 0.72
(8) I would like to see our teacher training
sessions held for a shorter amount of time.
3.30 0.88
(7) The time allocated for teacher training of
new concepts is appropriate.
3.00 1.17
(10) In past experiences with teacher training
at my school site, the material was generally
delivered in an understandable manner.
1.83 0.49
(5) School leadership have found value in my
requests for teacher training sessions.
2.09 0.73
Lack of valuing
teacher
collaboration
(9) Teacher training at my school site provides
follow up learning opportunities through
teacher collaboration.
2.57 0.95

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The results shown through the teacher survey indicated past experiences with teacher
training and professional development provided by the organization had been valuable. Seventy-
eight percent of teachers favor past experiences offered by school administration and teachers’
perception is one that the organization responds positively to requests to initiate training and
desire for further knowledge. Additionally, 96% of teachers believed the mode of delivery used
in the past to enhance their learning and training was understandable to a point they could
implement new initiatives. Overwhelmingly, 83% of teachers find they benefit from the teacher
training initiated by the school.
Based on their prior experiences, teachers were not opposed to new mandates. However,
based on the data, there were a few areas to be considered to most effectively implement this
policy initiative. The highest mean in this area of measuring organizational value was # 8: I
would like to see our teacher training sessions held for a shorter amount of time. Results show
30% of respondents “disagree” with the statement, 43% “neither agree nor disagree” and 17%
“agree” with the statement. Conclusion can be made from these results that 30% of the teachers
feel they would not like to see training sessions for shorter time, however, 43% of teachers don’t
have an opinion on the length of training time and 17% want to see a shorter amount of time
given to any one time teacher training session. The majority of teachers disagree suggesting the
time allotted during any given session for teacher training is appropriate. Furthermore, statement
#7 states The time allocated for teacher training of new concepts is appropriate, there were
mixed responses. 43% of teachers indicated, “disagree” or “strongly disagree”, 22% marked
“neither agree nor disagree” and 45% of teachers indicated, “agree” or “strongly agree.” These
findings suggested a significant number of teachers want more time allocated for training in
order to feel comfortable with implementing new concepts.
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Two survey questions were presented in a fill-in-the-blank answer format. Question # 25:
What can this school organization do to help all teachers place more emphasis on global
education competencies? The teacher responses provided more data on the level of
organizational support needed to implement global education competencies and the necessary
level of organizational involvement in the plans for and process of global education competency
curriculum. The two assumed needs measured by question # 25 are: knowledge of the
importance of global education competencies has not been communicated to teachers and,
second, there is a lack of knowledge about internal training for the new skills. Fifty-six percent
of teacher respondents made comments in the fill-in-the-blank section. Three important themes
were highlighted among the 56% of responses to validate the assumed needs mentioned above.
Sixty-nine percent of teachers mentioned an interest in the organization to provide more
“training” and/or “workshops” to gain more understanding of the definition of global education
competencies and how to integrate this into their daily lessons. Three teachers responded a desire
for the school organization to place a greater value on global education curriculum. However,
there was an overwhelming response of 82% of teachers responded with “time” related
recommendations. Comments such as “offer time and promoting to re-do curriculum” or “time,
we simply are not afforded enough time” or “create time for an explanation of global
competencies.”
To further support the validity of the assumed needs mentioned above, Question # 26:
What type of training do you need to feel comfortable to implement global education
competencies? was asked. Fifty-six percent of teachers responded to the question with 61% of
responses mentioning the need for “training” and “modeling” of quality instruction in the area of
global education competencies further supporting the answers given in question 25. Written
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comments to support the need for coaching style training include “curricular knowledgeable
coach to help me sift through and analyze my instructional objectives, concepts, skills, and
content” and “modeling of what it looks like top to bottom, then discussions, then practice, then
feedback.”
Findings from interviews. Nine teachers were asked twelve interview questions in total.
Fifty percent of the interview questions were asked to better understand the assumed needs
related to organizational support and cultural settings. To start the interviews, question one was
asked to validate the organization does actually initiate new policy. Question # 1 states: Can you
think of any school wide policy that has been initiated on your campus? Although each teacher
answered with a different policy implementation, clearly the teachers could initiate conversation
about policy implementation in their school setting. Details of the policy implementation focused
on the process of implementation through to devised assessments.
Question # 3: Can you describe your most favorable way to receive training when
initiating new curriculum policy? was used to determine the validity of the assumed needs in the
knowledge section of this chapter as well. For the purpose of gaining understanding of the
organizational culture of the school and the mode of communication and feedback used to better
implement new policy, the responses presented valid information. Although a strong 88% of
teachers responded with a reference to creating “in-house experts” as their favorite mode of
training, 100% of teachers felt this was important because not all teachers need to attend all types
of training or it will waste their time. Experts who have a clear understanding of their school
culture was important and developing “in-house experts” allowed for a mutual respect, ideas
communicated were more valuable, only relevant information was being expressed, and
questions could be answered immediately upon implementation of lessons.
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Question # 5: How can the administration support and encourage the implementation of
global education competencies? The responses regarding this question centered on providing
teachers with knowledge and the time to implement the knowledge allowing for discussions on
clear communication, realistic expectations and a better system of setting goals. These responses
validate the assumed needs connected to the lack of knowledge about internal training for new
skills and the organization’s lack of performance goals in the area of global education
competencies.
Question # 6: Can you state the mission or goals of your organization in reference to
global education competencies? was presented to provide an understanding of the level of effort
and commitment shown by the organization to communicate the goal of implementing global
education competencies. A hundred percent of teachers could state the overall school mission
statement, however, 100% of teachers stated the mission did not include anything about global
education. Statements such as, “if you dig deeper than the mission statement, you will find
statements that show our value for diversity and inclusivity, or our global perspective” or “our
desire would be for students to extend the values in our mission statement in a global
perspective.” The assumed need of how well the knowledge of the importance of global
education competencies has been validated by the responses given to this question.
The final two interview questions, Question # 11: Looking back on implementing new
initiatives, were you satisfied with the training? and Question # 12: When implementing new
initiatives, did your school encourage collaboration among all stakeholders? were designed to
evaluate the level of support teachers felt from their organization and the actual culture of
encouragement and support for new learning by the organization. A hundred percent of the
teachers gave positive reviews of the organization lending comments such as, “yes, absolutely
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supportive” and “I would say everyone’s on equal frame” and “yeah, I would say they do a really
good job of that.”
Findings from Document Analysis
Documents from named school sites to lend comparisons as stated in Chapter 3 were
unavailable and, therefore, the researcher was not able to further investigate how the school’s
mission and goals compare to other schools. Also, given the organization is currently re-writing
their strategic plan, a current document was not available.
Summary of Validated Needs
The following is a summary of the validated knowledge, motivation and organizational
needs presented in this chapter. The evidence pointing to a lack of teacher knowledge of global
education competencies was expected given this topic is a new initiative and definitions,
training, curriculum planning and implementation have yet to be established for this school
organization. As evidenced in the motivation section, once this lack of knowledge was
addressed, the teaching staff would support a comprehensive, high quality training program,
targeting global education competencies. The findings indicated a high level of confidence in the
administrative staff to provide the initiatives to keep the organization innovative and creative,
providing students with the best possible education.
Findings indicated a contradiction of motivation to continue the implementation of the
policy due to unrealistic confidence and self-efficacy levels. For the purpose of knowledge
findings, the responses by teachers in both the survey and interview components showed a lack
of realistic knowledge for the definition, how it relates to their students and the process by which
global education competencies would be implemented into their classroom content areas.

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CHAPTER 5
SOLUTIONS, IMPLEMENTATION AND EVALUATION
The structure of this chapter is based on the analysis of the results of data from the first
two research questions presented in previous chapters. The purpose of Chapter 5 is to present
evidence-based recommendations for addressing the validity of the assumed needs for
knowledge, motivation and organizational gaps reported in Chapter 4, which currently prevent
the selected stakeholders from achieving their performance goal. It is essential to the reflection
and evaluation component of the gap analysis study to establish solutions based on key
components: knowledge, motivation and organizational gaps. Although assessed individually,
knowledge, motivation and organizational gaps and solutions are interwoven (Rueda, 2011, p.
78). Chapter 5 will respond to the final research question:
2. What are the knowledge, motivation and organizational solutions for instructors to
implement global education competencies across curricular content areas?
The dialogue of this question addresses the remainder of the Clark and Estes (2008) GAP
process. Research-based evidence in the field of global education competencies will support the
process and provide perspective as development of recommendations to close the gaps and
implementation of solutions are further established. Presentation of the validated needs for which
solutions will be proposed and the rationale for each will be the foundation to begin this chapter.
Additionally, solutions will be provided based on current and scholarly research in the field of
global education competencies to provide relevancy, cultural context and effectiveness of the
proposed solutions in closing the gap. An evaluation plan will conclude Chapter 5, based on
Kirkpatrick’s evaluation model, and will guide the organization in implementing the proposed
solutions and assessing proficiency toward expected outcomes. Ideally, each of these steps will
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poise stakeholders to gain concrete knowledge of global education competencies and the
practices necessary to ensure students graduate with measureable proficiency in global education
competencies.
Validated Needs Selection and Rationale
True gap analysis research provides all validated needs and solutions that would be
delivered based on authentic evidence. However, for the purpose of this study, prioritizing the
validated needs and providing a more in-depth set of solutions allows for the most significant
impact. A systematic process was applied for tapering the number of most significant needs
affecting the implementation of global education competencies at this educational organization.
Two heuristics were considered to prioritize the validated needs; first, the highest percentage of
teachers indicating the area as a challenge; and secondly, those showing the potential to make the
most significant changes through recommendations connecting the impact for closing the
knowledge, motivation and organizational gaps. Investigation began with the survey responses
and interview responses were considered as support of the initial findings. The selection process
revealed 8 validated needs that were considered to have the greatest impact on closing the
knowledge, motivation and organizational gaps.
Table 15 shows the validated causes that meet the criteria of highest percentage of
teachers indicating the area of challenge and those which show potential for making the most
impact to change.

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Table 15
Validated KMO Ranked According the Above Described Criteria
Category Needs
Knowledge
Factual Teachers did not have a basic definition of global education
competencies.
Conceptual Teachers did not have the basic knowledge of global education
curriculum and how it relates to the students at their particular
independent school.
Conceptual Teachers were unaware of the process to implement global education
competencies.
Motivation
Attainment Value Teachers did not view global education competencies as a priority
because they lack in-depth training and teaching resources on the
subject, thus they have low attainment value.
Attainment Value Teachers viewed global education competencies as a separate
curriculum component, not something interwoven into the regular
(already developed) curriculum.
Organization
Organizational Goal Organization needed to identify performance goals.
Organizational Goal Global education competencies had not been considered in the past—
new concept.
Professional
Development
Lack of appropriate and applicable training.

The selection process revealed eight validated needs meeting the criteria for further
elaboration in Chapter 5.

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Solutions for Knowledge Needs
The purpose of this study was to describe, for administration, faculty and students, the
extent to which global education is necessary and realizable in the K-12 education systems and
the means by which global education competencies are integrated across content areas. Teachers
would benefit from specific training of global education terminology and specific details on the
implementation process. The teachers will need to know the benchmark levels signifying student
proficiency. The performance gap is 100% considering none of the global competencies goals
have been formally introduced and teacher’s factual knowledge on the subject has never been
assessed. The assumed needs of knowledge gaps are formulated with caution recognizing gaps
are addressed but “will usually be the case that there will be several, rather than one, cause or
gap that is leading to not achieving goals” (Rueda, 2011, p.79).
Anderson and Krathwohl knowledge types and cognitive processes will guide the
discussion for needs and research literature, surveys and interviews helped to identify possible
solutions for the validated knowledge needs. When knowledge gaps are present, the research on
knowledge dimensions by Anderson and Krathwohl (2001) help to identify whether each lives
within the domains of factual, conceptual, procedural or metacognitive knowledge. The
identified gaps for this study lie within the factual and conceptual domains recognizing that it is
unlikely to have success in procedural or metacognitive domains if a solid foundation in factual
and conceptual knowledge is lacking.
According to Mayer (2011), learning is an actual change in knowledge. It is important to
identify the type of learning that needs to take place or the cognitive process to meet the
objectives (Mayer, 2011). A foundational understanding of this cognitive process is necessary to
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provide the most effective solutions to the performance gaps (Clark & Estes, 2008; Mayer, 2011;
Rueda, 2011).
• Remember: recognize or recall relevant knowledge from long-term memory
• Understand: constructing meaning from oral and written sources
• Apply: carrying out or using a procedure in a specific situation
• Analyze: breaking something into parts and determining how they relate to one
another as well as to an overall structure, framework, or purpose
• Evaluate: making judgments and distinctions based on specified criteria and standards
• Create: forming a coherent or functional pattern or whole from distinct elements
This cognitive process (Rueda, 2011) is a vital part of applied knowledge. Rueda (2011)
discusses the intersection of the four types of knowledge; factual, conceptual, procedural and
metacognitive, and the six cognitive process described above, which should be considered when
making recommendations in closing performance gaps.
The three knowledge gaps the teachers indicated are as follows:
1. Teachers do not have a basic definition of global education competencies (factual).
2. Teachers do not have basic knowledge of global education curriculum and how it
relates to the students at their particular independent school (conceptual).
3. Teachers are unaware of the process of implementation (conceptual).
Table 16 shows the factual and conceptual knowledge gaps and the proposed solutions.

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Table 16
Factual and Conceptual Knowledge Gaps and Solutions
Knowledge Gaps Proposed Solutions
Teachers did not have a basic
definition of global education
competencies (factual).
Provide teacher training on key concepts of global education
competencies.
Determine base line knowledge of teachers through pre-
service assessments.
Work through collaborative groups (teachers, staff,
administration and experts) to create a common definition of
global education competencies that best reflects the culture of
the organization.
Teachers do not have basic
knowledge of global education
curriculum and how it relates
to the students at their
particular independent school
(conceptual).
Provide teacher training and professional development
opportunities. Modeling from prior modes of policy
information delivery would be appropriate, however,
exploring coaching style training, in-house experts, teacher
observation and lecture style training are indicated as
appropriate and effective.
Investigate membership options with independent education
networks specializing in global education competencies that
will work to guide the basic knowledge, implementation,
bench marking and evaluation components of this policy.
Design task force groups that work to design lessons and
teaching strategies, using professional global education
online network groups, which support the implementation of
global education competencies.
Teachers are unaware of the
process of implementation
(conceptual).
Develop sustained partner school relationships to create
opportunities for collaboration and learning from observation
of accomplished policy implementation.
Establish a global directorship with vision for global
competencies in K-12 schools and the ability to guide
teachers through the implementation process.

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The factual knowledge gaps validated in this study were expected. As indicated earlier in
the research, the concept of global education competencies had not been discussed and goals
have not been created in this organization. The factual knowledge gap validated in this study
supported that most faculty need guidance on identifying the basic definition of global education
competencies. According to information processing theory, active involvement in the learning
process helps facilitate learning (Rueda, 2011). Suggested recommendations will call for active
participation by all stakeholders when identifying the basic definition of global education
competencies and how they best relate to the organization. Additionally, as presented by Mayer
(2011), Bartlett discusses true and meaningful learning “involves assimilating new incoming
information to existing schemas” (Mayer, 2011, p. 29). Therefore, when asked create a
meaningful definition of global education competencies, connecting knowledge elements into a
coherent mental representation should be encouraged. Teachers should be persuaded to connect
with their personal heritage, travel experiences, and readings related to cultural awareness or
global perspectives. However, faculty members may have related expertise but lack sufficient
past experiences to transfer the knowledge to the global education competencies. Mayer (2011)
propounds the view that “in this way of learning is a constructive process of assimilation to
schema rather than a process of adding presented information to memory,” which is less likely to
be committed to the cognitive process of learning and remembering and the process of
information retrieval (p. 29).
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Factual Knowledge Solutions
Knowledge gap. Teachers did not have a basic definition of global education
competencies.
Solution 1: Provide teacher training on key concepts of global education
competencies.
Solution 2: Create collaborative groups to draft a common definition of global
education competencies. Providing information to faculty about theories, definitions and basic
concepts of implementation are appropriate solutions for factual knowledge gaps (Clark & Estes,
2008). Survey responses indicate teachers’ desire in-depth training in the area of global
education competencies. The type of training requested is similar to that provided for past policy
initiatives, however, further considerations were developed. Training encompassing
collaborative grade level groups, creating in-house experts, and coaching style sessions were
among the most recommended by the staff. An effort to differentiate the training involving only
those lacking this basic knowledge was suggested, however, to create a common definition and
buy-in from all staff members, equal opportunities and efforts need to be demonstrated by all
staff members.
Teachers will need concrete knowledge of the concepts of global education competencies
and the key elements to create a definition (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001). Once a common
definition is created, benchmarks will help to guide the success of the implementation.
Conceptual Knowledge Solutions
Until teachers recognize the relationship between global education competencies and how
they relate to other content areas, conceptual gaps will occur. Once a foundation of factual
knowledge is established, building on the teacher’s conceptual information will become a focus.
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There will be times that lessons encompassing a shift back and forth from factual to conceptual
knowledge are likely (Rueda, 2011). Conceptual understanding is necessary to transfer prior
knowledge to new and important situations. Job aides are recommended to facilitate effective
solutions when there is a gap between related expertise and a lack of prior experience (Clark &
Estes, 2008).
Knowledge gap. Teachers did not have basic knowledge of global education
curriculum and how it relates to the students at their particular independent school.
Solution 3: Provide teacher training, opportunities for teacher observation and
professional development opportunities. Important research has been conducted discussing the
most effective characteristics of high-quality professional development. Current research (Garet,
Porter, Desimone, Birman, & Yoon, 2001) appears to suggest three structural features of
professional development activities; the form of the activities (study group, network), the
duration of activity (number of contact hours and span over time), and degree of collective
participation from individual school sites. Furthermore, Garet’s research discusses the extent of
time spent focusing on three additional areas; time placed on new content alone, time offering
active learning and the degree to which the professional development learning is focused on
creating meaningful experiences. Careful consideration of the above characteristics would be
employed and Garet’s recommendation to steer away from outdated, traditional “workshop”
style training would be replaced by a “coaching” style of training during a classroom setting
ideally with modeling (Garet et al., 2001). Supplementary discussion and a systematic approach
to professional development will be developed further in the organization section of this chapter.
Modeling from prior modes of policy information delivery would be appropriate,
however, exploring coaching style training, in-house experts, teacher observation and lecture
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style training are indicated as appropriate and effective. Assuming a definition of global
education competencies has been created and shared among all stakeholders, further training
would be recommended. The proposed solution would be to offer opportunities for interested
teachers to observe instructors at a school site known to be proficient in creating lessons that
integrate global education competencies within multiple content areas. This would be the starting
of creating a pool of “in-house” experts to share knowledge gained through others in a staff
development fashion.
Solution 4: Investigate membership options with global education networks and
consulting firms offering research data, collaborations with other internationally focused
schools and teacher lesson plan forums for sharing project centered learning with a global
education focus. Asia Society’s International Studies Schools Network (ISSN) or Round Square
is two suggested organizations. Cost considerations would be necessary. With the hope of
ensuring a conceptual understanding, learning from people with previous experience will provide
a vision for implementation and how it relates to the previously established school culture.
Teachers expressed an interest in connecting with others that have seen success in the area of
global education competencies and would like to further investigate how this integration has
helped students to gain proficiency.
Solution 5: Design task force groups that work to design lessons and teaching
strategies. Staff responses indicated a need for someone to help sift through lessons and
strategies to guide their day-to-day lesson plans. The proposed solution would be to create task
force groups consisting of teachers especially passionate about the implementation of global
education competencies. The drive of this group would be to seek extra training, work to connect
with grade or subject level teachers on campus, meet with division principles to discuss progress
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and set new goals, create lesson plan binders providing examples of lesson models that work to
connect global education competencies to various content areas, assist other teachers in
improving their practices by planning with them, demonstrating lessons, and help the school
develop a coherent instructional program with clear, well articulated standards (Feiler, Heritage,
& Gallimore, 2000). The task force group would investigate online learning opportunities,
international school collaborations and exchange programs. Ultimately, this task force would
guide further teacher training sessions, even if it means hiring a third party vendor. The task
force would use a variety of strategies as they help teachers meet the school’s goals for student
learning.
Knowledge gap. Teachers are unaware of the process of implementation.
Solution 6: Develop sustained partner school relationships supporting global
education competencies. Online network forums offer opportunities to connect with other
schools, nationally and internationally, providing ways to enhance learning and make
connections to students with similar and different cultural backgrounds. The value of developing
these partnerships stretches from teacher collaboration and support, lesson and curriculum
differentiation, cultural awareness, second language development and possible exchange
opportunities.
Solution 7: Establish a global directorship position. This position would be designed
to continue the work of the previously established task force group. To ensure sustainability of
the program and continue to provide conceptual focus, the Global Director would be the liaison
between the faculty, administration, and parents and continue to provide current research on the
fast paced change in global education curriculum. This person would provide further teacher
training and work to answer questions and design lessons.
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Solutions for Motivation Needs
Motivation is the process that initiates, guides and maintains goal-oriented behaviors
(Cherry, n.d.). Motivation is what causes us to act. The amount of energy one is willing to
expend on activity will be dependent upon established and clear goals (Clark & Estes, 2008;
Pintrich, 2003). A high level of energy or willingness to participate in learning a new skill
indicates motivation. A closer look at the data signifies that motivation could be intrinsic (Pink,
2009) and when given the appropriate resources, tools and autonomy, the ability to become
proficient at a task is high and motivation to learn new skills will be evident.
Motivational theory suggests self-efficacy and ability impact motivation and an
individual’s willingness to engage in an activity (Rueda, 2011). Clark and Estes (2008) describe
three motivational processes that can be indicators of problems for performance goal
achievement. These “indexes” are active choice, persistence and mental effort. It is continued to
state, for most instances of motivational problems, these indexes do not necessarily work alone
but are interwoven as one pursues the “direction, persistence and energy to accomplish tasks” at
work (Clark & Estes, 2008, p. 80). In the context of teachers attempting to gain knowledge with
unfamiliar curriculum, motivation is known to influence the direction, intensity, persistence, and
quality of their approach and success of learning basic knowledge of global education
competencies (Ambrose et al., 2010, p. 68). Therefore, solutions for motivation barriers need to
be linked to both knowledge and organizational dimensions and a sense of purpose. To further
context to the role of individual’s motivation within an organization, Rueda (2011) characterizes
motivational generalizations as adaptive self-efficacy and competence beliefs, adaptive
attributions and control beliefs, higher levels of interest and intrinsic motivation, higher levels of
value, and goals that motivate and direct, each of which contribute to a motivated organizational
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society (Rueda, 2011, p. 40). All theories mentioned above will be employed as context to
develop motivation solutions for stakeholder’s performance gap.
Motivation Gap
A majority of the assumed motivational causes preventing the performance goal were not
validated. According to Anderson and Krathwohl’s taxonomy, teachers see the value in global
education competencies, they did not feel over burdened with curriculum to which they could not
add global education competencies and they felt confident in their ability to implement global
education competencies with their students.
Teacher responses indicate a high level of self-efficacy for the subject area, however,
when asked to demonstrate their abilities, a lack of knowledge prevented further motivation.
According to the collected data, both survey and interview responses, self-efficacy and perceived
knowledge did not align proving a motivational gap. Pintrich’s research (2003) indicates a
teacher’s lack of demonstrated knowledge coupled with an unrealistically high self-efficacy can
pose a barrier to reaching success in performance goals.
Through data collection, it can be determined teachers are motivated to participate in
formal training sessions indicating high value for the subject area. Responses signify teachers
find global education competencies important to know and implement into daily lesson plans,
especially if seen as a way to keep their school competitive in the independent school arena.
There are two validated needs in the motivation realm of this study. First, dealing with
the attainment value of teachers, is teachers do not view global education competencies as a
priority because they lack in-depth training, goals and teaching resources on the subject. The
second motivation barrier deals with teacher’s utility value of motivation and suggests teachers
view global education competencies as a separate curriculum component, not something
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interwoven into the regular (already developed) curriculum. Attainment value is defined as the
“importance one attaches to doing well on a task” while utility value refers to “how useful one
believes a task or activity is for achieving some future goal” (Rueda, 2011, p. 42).
Worth noting is evidence of teacher responses indicating a lack of specific and concrete
organizational goals are negatively affecting the motivation of teachers. A solid, concrete and
measurable goal promotes value to the performance outcomes. A significant number of teachers
express the desire to know “why” they are to implement the new policy. Teachers suggest if it
was explained “why” they were venturing into this policy, they would be more motivated to
persist through implementation of global education competencies curriculum.

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Table 17
Motivation Gaps and Solutions
Motivation Gap Solution
Teachers did not view global
education competencies as a
priority because they lack in-
depth training and teaching
resources on the subject, thus
have low attainment value
(attainment value).
Use organizational and management structures to design a common
definition of global education competencies and encourage personal
and social academic goals.
Presentation of a case study scenario depicting a situation that
implementing global education competencies has helped specific
students adjust to study or work abroad, jobs, etc. This exercise
provides value to the newly established goals.
Provide tasks, materials, coaching and activities that are relevant to
teachers allowing all to connect to past experiences with global
knowledge, practices and experiences. Provide relevant content
material that would be helpful and focus on the importance of
global education competence in connection to teacher’s content
area.
Provide consistent and constructive feedback through collaborative
model evaluation methods.
Teachers viewed global
education competencies as a
separate curriculum component,
not something interwoven into
the regular (already developed)
curriculum (core curriculum).
Mentorship Program
A discussion of the importance of this policy implementation and
how it relates to future student success is recommended. Present and
discuss practical ways of differentiating instruction and demonstrate
how it impacts student achievement.
Provide teachers with supplemental guides that explicitly describe
the definitions and lessons necessary to integrate various content
areas.
Work to establish relationships with model schools to provide
demonstrations of effective curriculum interwoven into various
content areas. Easily reproduced lessons will work to support the
beginning stages of developing global education competencies—
Mentorship program.
Hiring of a Global Director with the specific job of providing
constant feedback on teacher’s lesson planning and student
achievement. The success of this detailed and supported planning
should stimulate teacher skills and confidence. Simultaneously,
assign specific, short term, yet achievable goals with timely, honest
feedback.

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Motivation gap: Teachers did not view global education competencies as a priority
because they lack in-depth training and teaching resources on the subject, thus have low
attainment value.
Solution 8: Pre-service training and curriculum development. The survey and
interview responses indicated a lack of goals established by the organization. As established
before this study began, teachers were unaware of the organization’s desire to implement global
education competencies. However, survey results indicated teachers were motivated to
implement this new policy. Without specific and concrete goals, teachers could lose motivation.
Rueda (2011) suggested the level of motivation decreases and barriers can occur when an
organization is lacking specific goals or shifting and changing goals.
The study showed two gaps in preparing teachers for developing curriculum in the area of
global education competencies:
• Teachers have insufficient courses on global education competencies. Teachers
indicated in responses to interview questions they had not experienced any training in
this area.
• Teachers have limited knowledge of the goals and direction of the organization in
relation to global education competencies.
During this pre-service training, teachers were encouraged to work in collaborative teams
to design a common definition of global education competencies. The small groups should
include all stakeholders. Ultimately, the small groups should join a whole group session, sift
through the suggestions of each small group and create one statement that will serve as a
common definition of global education competencies and establish initial goals that will drive
beginning lessons relevant to the school’s student population. These pre-service training sessions
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should provide teachers with case study scenarios to bring examples of positive outcomes of
implementing a curriculum that reaches a global audience and relevance of how this
implementation will enhance student college applications, job opportunities, cultural sensitivity,
and promote expansive impact through the student’s words and actions. A video-conference with
teachers and students from a school that has shown success in the area of global education
competencies would be beneficial.
Solution 9: Provide consistent and constructive feedback through collaborative
model of evaluation. With this knowledge, teachers, with support of administration and the
Global Director, would develop short-term, achievable goals to ensure mastery of new methods.
Pintrich (2003) recommended feedback that involves praise for effort coupled with specific,
detailed and constructive feedback, both written and oral discussions of areas of accomplishment
and ways to improve were suggested.
Motivation gap: Teachers viewed global education competencies as a separate
curriculum component, not something interwoven into the core curriculum areas.
Solution 10: Mentorship/Partner Program. This program would work to create
connections that encourage support to develop competencies in global education and with a
focus on the importance and value of this policy implementation by creating discussions of how
this connects to the overall direction of the new organizational strategic plan. The design could
include cross-grade level teacher partners, mentor connections at other schools showing success
in a similar policy implementation, and a newly hired Global Director.
The Global Director should be trained in global education competencies, show past
experience with schools showing success in educating students to be globally competent and has
participated in formal mentor training. It would be important for the Global Director to recognize
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the power of accepting the naivety for the subject and mentor without judgment and guide with
meaningful support (Rowley, 1999). The Global Director would work to provide teachers with
opportunities to observe teachers proficient in teaching strategies promoting global education
competencies.
Mentorship connections should be established early in the process and timelines created
to allow for frequent and ongoing support. Specific direction would be given multiple times
throughout this connection to bring specific support and guide all teachers in a mutual and
cohesive drive toward ensuring student proficiency in global education competencies.
Resources, such as current technology to ensure online conferences would be encouraged.
Ultimately, the mentorship program would be designed to promote collegial dialogue
focused on motivating teacher performance, enhancing the value of global education
competencies, and spark student learning (Rowley, 1999).
Solution 11: Provide teachers with supplemental guides/resources that provide
detailed definitions, lessons and connections to core curriculum. Rueda (2011) points to a
“constant lack of resources” as a motivation killer (p. 47). Providing teachers with materials to
support lesson planning and creative implementation was recommended to provide high
motivational dynamics. Showing teacher support through providing ample resources work to
reinforce a perceived value of teacher’s knowledge to implement materials that are distributed to
enhance daily lessons.
Solutions for Organization Needs
For the purpose of this study, it is important to think of organizational structures in terms
of culture, structure, and policies and practices (Rueda, 2011). Rueda (2011) discusses the
research by Thacker, Bell, and Schargel (2009), which elaborates on the complex connections
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between organizational systems, the emphasis of scaffolding one structure onto another over
time and the emotional attachment because the well-being of children are tied to success or
failure of the organizational system. The case study found four organizational gaps, namely, lack
of performance goals, new curricular concept, lack of training, and lack of allocated funding. The
organizational gaps will be considered in light of the complex organizational culture
demonstrated by this particular school institution.
Organizational gap. Identified need for performance goals.
Solution 12: Develop performance goals. As discussed earlier in this study, global
education competencies are a new curriculum concept to teachers, staff and administration. The
drive to integrate curriculum with a global focus stemed from the desire to stay competitive in
the independent school world, a recognition that the majority of the school’s student population
will attend college and work where many cultures will be employed and to become more
inclusive of all people, emphasized by the Episcopal tradition, and evidenced as a lacking area to
date.
Therefore, establishing performance goals was a first step in the process of integrating
global education competencies with the already established curriculum. Organizational goals
should serve four basic functions; provide guidance and direction, facilitate planning, motivate
and inspire employees, and help organization evaluate and control performance (Marler, n.d.).
The established goals should inform teaching staff of the chosen direction of the school,
especially now that global education competencies is being written into the new strategic plan.
Organizational goals will also serve as a reference point when designing and implementing
lessons for students and, therefore, can be motivational to staff members when trying to
accomplish these goals.
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Evidence suggests (Marler, n.d.) the learning culture desire is to acquire knowledge while
the performance culture of an organization is more focused on the outcomes of these goals. For
the purpose of this study, both areas were important to consider. Designing measureable goals
with allocated time to revisit and revise goals throughout the implementation process was vital to
the proficiency of students in the area of global education competencies. Additionally, the
written goals were specific and directly connected to the desired student and teacher outcomes
alleviating any ambiguity. The direct connection between the specificity of goals and their
success has been evidenced.
Three typical goal-setting approaches involve top-down, bottom-up and interactive
approaches (Marler, n.d.). All three will be employed with this school organization. The Board
of Trustees have confirmed the acceptance of global education competencies and is currently
working to write the structure and design as it relates to the overall strategic plan. This top-down
approach initiates the change in curriculum and an initial set of goals for the overall K-12 school.
Through this study, teachers show a strong motivation to learn more about global education
competencies and would be motivated to implement any new knowledge. The bottom-up
approach to goal setting will be employed to ensure teacher buy-in to the development,
implementation and evaluation of goals. An interactive approach with a connection to teachers,
administration, Board of Trustees and any third party vendors would be recommended as a way
to establish common goals, revisit and reflection of goals throughout the implementation process
and to provide the best continuity of goals across all grade levels. Establishing performance-
based feedback relating to these goals should be provided to teachers. Frequent feedback would
allow teachers to adjust their level of effort and teaching lessons to ensure student success. This
feedback can be provided by administration, fellow colleagues, and/or outside educational
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consultants. This will provide teachers the continued motivation to achieve the performance
goals as identified by teachers, administration and Board of Trustees.
Organizational gap. Global education competencies had not been considered in the
past—new concept.
Organizational gap. Identified need for appropriate and applicable training.
Solution 13: Provide professional development. Quality professional development is
essential to effective policy implementation. Given this is a new curricular area for teachers,
extensive professional development with cohesive, active learning to define global education
competencies and how this relates to the overall strategic plan will begin the discussions. The
available evidence (Desimone, Porter, Garet, Yoon, & Birman, 2002) considers “professional
development is considered as an essential mechanism for deepening teachers’ content knowledge
and developing their teaching practices” (p. 81). Current research (Yoon, Duncan, Lee, Scarloss,
& Shapley, 2007, p. 1) appears to validate the view that “professional development for teachers
is a key mechanism for improving classroom instruction and student achievement” (Ball &
Cohen, 1999; Cohen & Hill, 2000; Darling-Hammond & McLaughlin, 1995; Little, 1993;
National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, 1996).
Professional development for the service of developing understanding of the new concept
of global education competencies and strategies of effective implementation and evaluation
would be recommended through one or more of the following opportunities. It is written
(Guskey & Yoon, 2009) the push for professional development should be strictly site based and
new knowledge should be built on the combined expertise of in-house staff members. Although
this is one avenue for effective change, it is rarely enough. Each of the recommended
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professional development recommendations will be described briefly below and further
information will be provided in the Implementation Plan section of this chapter.
In-house experts: Teachers indicate a desire to create “in-house experts” of those that
have a passion for global education competencies. There is an advantage to have colleagues that
know and understand the culture of the school institution. This brings a level of trust to the
implementation of this new policy. In-house experts would be provided opportunities to seek
outside training, observations, and coaching with the understanding they were the liaison
between new global education knowledge and the school site teachers, therefore, providing
fellow staff members with support and new understandings.
Outside experts: Third party vendors focusing on working with schools implementing
global education competencies should be considered. Global education consultants focusing on
professional development efforts that bring improvements in student learning by focusing on
training teachers and then directly facilitate implementation would be recommended. However,
unless the outside experts are willing to invest time to know the organizational goals, culture and
aspirations, service training would be less effective. The available evidence seems to connect to
the “sociocultural prospective, instructional change requiring not only awareness of content and
practices, but more importantly, an understanding of the contexts involved in the construction
and appropriation of knowledge” (Collett, 2012, p. 27).
Time: As evidenced by interview and survey results, the amount of time allowed for
research, integrating, reflection and collaboration is very important to teachers. It has long been
stated that lack of sufficient time for high-quality professional development leaves gaps in
learning and implementing process of new policies. Obviously, “educators need time to deepen
their understanding, analyze students’ work, and develop new approaches to instruction”
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(Guskey & Yoon, 2009, p. 496). Garet et al. (2001) and Yoon et al. (2007) focus on the
importance of duration of time in connection to success of teacher training and policy
implementation. Almost all recent literature suggests a focus on professional development that is
sustained over time. Garet et al. (2001) writes “the longer activities are more likely to provide an
opportunity for in-depth discussion of content, student conceptions and misconceptions, and
pedagogical strategies” (p. 921). Garet et al. (2001) add that activities that “extend over time are
more likely to allow teachers to try out new practices in the classroom and obtain feedback on
their learning” (p. 922). The data suggested by Yoon et al. (2007) shows “studies that had more
than 14 hours of professional development showed a positive and significant effect on student
achievement” (p. 3).
Follow up activities: It is recommended to provide important follow-up activities.
Teacher respondents stressed the importance of providing goal embedded assistance as new
curricula are being adopted. Guskey and Yoon (2009) confirmed virtually all studies that showed
positive impact in student learning included significant amounts of structured and sustained
follow-up activities. This could be in the form of grade level meetings on a bi-weekly basis,
model lesson observations, working through case study scenarios, and/or collaborative lesson
planning. These activities should be well planned, following specific goals, and focused on
content relevant to global education competencies and address specific teacher needs. This
model works to provide sustainability to the global education curriculum and programs. Yoon et
al. (2007) recommends follow-up activities that are “sustained, intensive, and content focused”
in order to have a positive and lasting impact on classroom instruction and teacher performance.
Coaching: A natural step in the process of implementation is ongoing coaching. Creating
weekly or bi-weekly follow-up support through the form of coaching that assists teachers with
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lesson planning, differentiating instruction, integrating content areas, assessment, providing
opportunities to connect with schools globally and offering references for ongoing learning
would provide the support necessary to sustain this policy implementation. More specifically,
coaches work with teachers to transfer ideas from professional development workshops to the
classroom lessons (Scott, Cortina, & Carlisle, 2012). As an alternative to the more recently
criticized “workshop” style of professional development, coaching often takes place during the
regular school day (Garet et al., 2001). Garet et al. (2001) suggests these coaching sessions take
place, in part, during the process of classroom instruction or during regularly scheduled teacher
planning sessions. As stated in Collet’s research (2012) coaching provides the scaffolding or the
“bridge necessary to support a learner’s performance” (Wood, Bruner, & Ross, 1976). This is
seen as a gradual release of responsibility as the teachers move toward total independence in
curriculum planning, research and implementation of global education competencies instruction.
Organizational gap. Funding had not been designed to support training and
resources for global education competencies.
Solution 14: A need to provide relevant resources through funding allocations to
support the new strategic plan initiatives, including global education competencies.
Teachers should be provided with the technology necessary to connect with teachers and schools
with a similar focus of global education competencies both local and international. Opportunities
to create lessons for students across the globe should be facilitated by adequate technology, such
as a strong digital connection, access to monitors, and appropriate computer technology.
Additionally, resource books and literature pieces that support a global perspective for students
and cultural learning for both student and teacher. Provide teachers with supplemental guides the
work to promote integrating curriculum.
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Rueda (2011) expresses the importance of “shifting resources to match the priority or
goal” of the organization (p. 64). Faculty resources can be utilized by allocating money to
specific global education training for those with this particular interest with the agreement these
individuals will become “in-house” experts. New support teams should be created to guide the
knowledge and implementation of this policy, including frequent and constructive reflection and
feedback. Motivational solutions involve providing supportive and caring mentors to help
teachers develop high-level skills in global education competencies.
Solution 15: Develop continuous assessment monitoring tool. Major policy reforms,
including the implementation of global education competencies curriculum, require sustained
changes in teacher practice at the K-12 teaching level. Long-term change occurs most frequently
when new learning is combined with structured follow-up practice and group reflection (Leu &
Ginsburg, 2011). Teachers should have the opportunity to meet frequently to reflect on important
practices and to discuss the outcomes of given monitoring tools and make adjustment to
strategies to remedy any areas of concern. Assessment and monitoring can provide motivation
and direction to ensure collective positive results.

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Table 18
Organizational Gaps and Solutions
Organization Gap Solution
Identified need for performance
goals.
Develop performance goals through the various
organizational structures; top-down, bottom-up and
interactive organizational forms. Make sure goals are
measurable and specific.
Global education competencies
had not been considered in the
past—new concept
Provide various forms of professional development
opportunities.
A need for appropriate and
applicable training.
Provide various forms of professional development
opportunities.
Funding had not been designed
to support training and
resources for global education
competencies.
Through the acceptance of global education competencies
by the Board of Trustees, funding allocations are described
in the new strategic plan. Provide relevant resources through
funding allocations to support the new strategic plan
initiatives, including global education competencies.

Summary of Knowledge, Motivation and Organizational Solutions
The proposed solutions for this study were based on knowledge, motivation and
organizational needs evidenced in Chapter 4 based on interview and survey analysis and
outcomes. Evidence indicates teachers are lacking basic knowledge of global education
competencies and how they relate to the school’s student population. This was an expected
outcome considering global education competencies are a new curricular area to the school.
Teachers exhibit a high level of self-efficacy for their ability to implement global education
competencies, however, interview responses show a lack of true knowledge of the definition and
concepts of global education. However, as teachers gain the necessary knowledge, they will
likely become more realistic in the level of self-efficacy and dedicate adequate effort to gain the
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knowledge necessary. Teachers indicate past school-based professional development
opportunities provided when implementing new policies have been beneficial, although also
recommended various models they would like explored to generate further motivation to persist
in the implementation of global education. Through interview and survey results, teachers hold a
great deal of confidence in their organization. Instructors have positively internalized the value
of professional development and training provided by the organization. Research results indicate
teachers would welcome professional development opportunities to guide collaborative groups as
they embark on creating a common definition of global education competencies, design relevant
goals, create lessons and propose evaluation tools to meet the needs of the student and
administration expectations.
Proposed solutions, in short, would be to provide training and professional development
opportunities in various collaborative forms designed to include all stakeholders to define global
education competencies and further develop goals to align with the newly formed strategic plan.
Teachers indicate a high level of motivation for the subject area but will require support of
training, mentorships, ongoing and thoughtful time for reflection, and the leadership of a Global
Director to consistently offer research based strategies and global school partnerships. The
motivation will certainly be lost if teachers feel a lack of organizational definition and direction
for a sequential process of implementation of global education competencies. Additionally, it
will be important to communicate to teachers the “why” of this implementation. Teachers
indicate a strong desire to have validation that the work ahead of them is based in current
research on the importance of this concept to the trend of K-12 education. Table 19 summarizes
the causes, solution and implementation of the solutions to aid in closing the gaps for knowledge,
motivation and organizational culture.
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Table 19
Summary of KMO Gaps and Solutions
Needs Solutions Implementation
Knowledge and skills
Teachers did not have a
basic definition of global
education competencies
(factual).
Training:
Provide training on the key
concepts of global
education competencies.
Teacher training—Give a pre-training
survey to teachers.
Find subject area experts to provide high
quality training and conduct a pre-training
assessment to ensure training is appropriate
and not repetitive. Pre-service training
should work toward the design of a common
definition of global education competencies.
Collaborative groups Jig-Saw Teaching Method
A Jig-Saw teaching model is best suited for
this type of pre-service.
Jig-Saw: All stakeholders divided into small
groups to create quality definitions, small
groups come together to form new small
groups to discussion the rationale of
definitions created. Ultimately, small groups
will form large group. With guidance from
experts, definitions are justified and debated
until one definition fits the needs of the
policy implementation.
Teachers did not have
basic knowledge of global
education curriculum and
how it relates to the
students at their particular
independent school
(conceptual knowledge).
Training and coaching:
Provide training and
coaching on how these key
concepts relate to the
overall mission of the
school, the culture and
context of student
population, and strategic
plan.
Identify key stakeholders showing a passion
for global education competencies and enlist
them to work collaboratively with subject
area expert to provide training and coaching
to design a checklist that helps with
planning, monitoring and evaluating the
alignment between global education
competencies and school’s strategic plan.
Training and coaching:
Work to gather reliable and
relevant resources to
support and enhance the
implementation of global
education competencies—
online networks, books,
guest speakers, etc.
Provide training through webinar sessions,
online networks and guest speakers and
various professional development
opportunities as described in the
organizational solutions section.

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Table 19, continued
Needs Solutions Implementation
Teachers are unaware of
the process of
implementation
(conceptual knowledge).
Training and Coaching:
Provide various in-service,
coaching, mentoring and
collaborative workshops to
work through development of
lesson plans and strategies to
deliver new curriculum.
Design task force groups that work to
design lessons and teaching strategies,
using professional global education
online network groups, which support
the implementation of global
education competencies.
Develop sustained partner school
relationships to create opportunities
for collaboration and learning from
observation of accomplished policy
implementation.
Motivation:
Teachers did not view
global education
competencies as a priority
because they lack in-depth
training and teaching
resources on the subject,
thus have low attainment
value.
Resources:
Provide teachers with
supplemental guides that
explicitly describe the
definitions and lessons
necessary to integrate various
content areas. Providing
reproducible lessons to start
would be helpful.
Collaborations:
Establish relationships with
model schools to provide
demonstrations of effective
curriculum interwoven into
various content areas.
Provide teachers with suggestions of
varying organizations (the pros and
cons) that support the implementation
of global education competencies.
Private and/or non-profit
organizations can include
International School Support Network
(ISSN) offered through Asia Society,
Round Square, Global Education
Network or Harvard Think Tank.
Evaluate each program and determine
the best match for the needs of the
school.
Create partnership opportunities with
Francis Parker School and Chadwick
School to observe and provide teacher
collaboration. This will work to
motivate teachers with the knowledge
of how this implementation is done
successfully.

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Table 19, continued
Needs Solutions Implementation
Teachers view
global education
competencies as a
separate curriculum
component, not
something
interwoven into the
regular (already
developed)
curriculum.
Varying, comprehensive
and continuous
professional
development including:
Provide professional
development starting
with area experts, then
in-house experts,
mentorships, and
traditional professional
development
opportunities.
During first professional development opportunity,
conduct a discussion of the importance of this policy
implementation and how it relates to future student
success. Discussions on its relevance to teacher’s
particular student population, vision of the school and
how it relates to the new strategic plan is
recommended. All discussions should tie to new
strategic plan, clear and concrete goals established in
this area, and should consider teacher feedback.
Provide teachers with supplemental guides that
explicitly describe the definitions and lessons
necessary to integrate various content areas.
After initial teacher feedback through pre-service
surveys, an appropriate professional development plan
should be drafted to support the specific desires
indicated by teachers. Suggestions might include:
lesson plan development specific to grade level,
designing overall school curriculum, creating
evaluation tools, cross grade level curriculum
development, observations, coaching, team meetings,
etc. The overall professional development plan should
be organized to meet the desire of teachers, support
administration goals and enhance the learning needed
for implementation.
Work to establish relationships with model schools to
provide demonstrations of effective curriculum
interwoven into various content areas. Easily
reproduced lessons will be a launching point and work
to support the beginning stages of developing global
education competencies—Mentorship program.
Hiring a Global Education Director with the specific
job of providing constant feedback on teacher’s lesson
planning and student achievement. The success of this
detailed and supported planning should stimulate
teacher skills and confidence. Simultaneously, assign
specific, short term, yet achievable goals with timely,
honest feedback.

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Table 19, continued
Needs Solutions Implementation
Organization:
Evidenced need for
performance goals.
Develop performance
goals:
Develop performance
goals through the various
organizational structures,
top-down, bottom-up and
interactive organizational
forms. Make sure goals are
measurable, specific and
time-bound.
Provide professional development through in-
house experts, outside experts, allocate time to
research, integration, reflection and
collaboration, follow-up activities and coaching
to ensure the performance goals align with
organizational mission, vision and strategic
plan.
Organization is to provide relevant resources
and technology to ensure the connection to
global education networks, global partner
schools, webinar training, sample lesson plans,
etc.
Global education
competencies had not
been considered in the
past-new concept.
Lack of appropriate
and applicable
training.
Professional development:
Provide various forms of
professional development
opportunities.
The professional development plan should
follow the needs of teachers. The above plan is
applicable to provide teacher training. In
addition, a thorough investment in ongoing
assessment to ensure training is valuable to
teachers is recommended.
Funding had not been
designed to support
training and resources
for global education
competencies.
Funding:
Through the acceptance of
global education
competencies by the Board
of Trustees, funding
allocations will be
described in the new
strategic plan.
Discussions of earmarking portions of student
tuition to provide professional development for
teachers and resources to implement this new
policy are under review with the Board of
Trustees. Additional funding sources should be
considered.

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Implementation
Clark and Estes (2008) describe six types of support necessary for most organizational
change processes, which were relied on to establish solutions for the organization’s performance
gaps; have a clear vision, goals, and ways to measure progress, align the structures and the
processes of the organization with goals, communicate constantly and candidly to those involved
about plans and progress, top management (administration) must be continually involved,
provide adequate knowledge, skills, and motivational support for everyone, and all change
process with the same name are not equal (Clark & Estes, 2008, pp. 117-119). Creating a global
education curriculum and sustaining the motivation necessary to integrate this curriculum creates
an interesting challenge. This requires integrating various solutions and developing avenues for
reflection, redesign and cross division support teams to ensure student proficiency in global
education competencies.
As a result of the gap analysis process, solutions for all gaps found are interrelated. The
proposed implementation of solutions worked to close the knowledge gap, support continued
motivation for implementing global education competencies, and fostered a supportive
organizational culture. Critical to the implementation process is for faculty to be fully engaged in
the process of transformative change in order to meet institutional performance goals. Teachers
must be prepared with the knowledge and skills and motivation to create new curriculum and
pedagogy. Table 20 shows a breakdown of the cascading implementation plan for the year 2016.

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Table 20
Implementation Plan 2016 — Reflects First Year Only
January 2016 March 2016 Summer 2016 October 2016 Oct.-Dec. 2016 December 2016
Initial Training:
Present new
components of
Strategic Plan.
Identify In-house
experts:
Identify key
stakeholders
showing a
particularly deep
desire to seek
more
knowledge.
Intensive
Workshop:
In-house expert
day—these
experts would
provide a day of
training. They
also keep the big
picture in mind.
How does this
affect school-
wide learning
and provide
opportunity
across grade
levels?
Professional
Development:
Identify key
mentors (may be
in-house
experts). Key
mentors can be
on or off
campus.
Professional
Development:
Provide ongoing
learning
opportunities
through Webinar
offerings, off-
campus
conferences,
time for
collaboration
with a directed
purpose.
Teacher
meetings spent
to collaborate.
Identification of
Global
Education
Director.
Describe the
supportive role
this person will
plan to ensure
success and
motivation of
policy
implementation.
Present data on
global education
competencies
and how it
relates to school
vision.
In-house experts
receive
additional
training with the
expectation they
would work as
mentors, trainers
and guides for
other teachers.
Collaborative
groups working
time — in-house
experts guide
discussion and
roam to answer
questions.
Provide more
knowledge
workshops or in-
service.

Work to develop
concrete and
measureable
goals for global
education
competencies.
Create lesson
plans in two
identified
areas—generate
ideas on how to
integrate lessons
in already
development
content areas.
Invite outside
experts for
guidance.

Plan to revisit
goals often.
Identify two
areas teachers
would feel
confident
working to
implement new
policy-grade
level specific.
Teachers will
implement
global education
strategies across
content areas as
designed by the
Academic Dean
and
recommended
by the Task
Force.
Start working to
identify Global
Education
Director.

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Evaluation Plan
The final stage of gap analysis (Clark & Estes, 2008) is to evaluate and measure the
success of the implementation plan in closing the gaps. The evaluation component to measure
and evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed solutions recommended by this dissertation of the
implementation process of global education competencies is recommended for further
improvements to the process.
As described above, various types of professional development will be employed to
provide connections between the teachers’ prior experiences with global education
competencies, how to implement their new knowledge, and design benchmarks and evaluation
tools for both teachers and students in the area of global education competencies. The evaluation
process will be essential as attempts are made to close performance gaps and improve instruction
(Clark & Estes, 2008, p. 125).
Evaluation will be conducted as a valuable component of closing performance gaps. The
four levels of evaluation will be employed (Kirkpatrick, 2006) as a foundational reference piece
to conduct effective evaluation. As described by Kirkpatrick, the four levels of evaluation are:
reaction, learning, behavior, and results (Kirkpatrick, 2006).
Level 1: Reactions
The school will be discussing the new Strategic Plan as developed by members of the
school community and Board of Trustees in January of 2016. As the new plan unfolds, teachers
will be informed of the drive to implement global education competencies and engage in
professional development designed to provide new knowledge and architect valuable goals,
which will align with the school mission. At this time, administration and Board of Trustees will
present data on the need for global education proficiency as a way to close the identified gaps
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shown through internal assessments completed by the California Association of Independent
School review in 2006 and the results of the Multi-cultural and Inclusivity survey done in 2012.
Additionally, further educational data will be presented to teachers on the importance of creating
globally competent students and its relationship to staying competitive with other local
independent schools.
Through these initial meetings, the organization will assess how stakeholders feel about
their engagement in the proposed strategic plan and how this might impact their individual goals.
It will be important to determine teachers’ feelings of interest and value for the subject matter
presented. At this stage, it is anticipated teachers would have a positive reaction from the
strategic plan components and show interest in participating in further professional development
opportunities.
Following the initial meeting, Survey Monkey would be used to generate important
questions and further solidify the teachers’ desire to learn more about global education
competencies and how they relate to their individual student population. Post meeting and
ongoing periodic teacher feedback using Likert type and open-ended items should generate
valuable information. Some of the suggested questions would be: How enthusiastic are you
about the upcoming strategic plan recommendations?, Do you find value in global education
competencies?, Do you feel confident that, with more knowledge, you would be motivated to
implement the presented strategies to ensure students graduate more globally proficient?, and I
am eager to collaborate with my fellow colleagues to support the implementation of global
education competencies.
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Level 2: Learning
This level of evaluation measures the effectiveness during and immediately after the
recommended solutions. Rueda (2011) further questions, “Did the solution result in changes in
the learning, motivation and organizational gaps?” (p. 87). In other words, were there evidenced
changes in the knowledge and skills of teachers, the attitudes towards this policy implementation
or presented data, and the organizational gaps presented earlier in this study.
In an effort to check for teacher understanding of global education competencies and
their learned ability to integrate global competencies into various content areas, an effectively
designed lesson plan, including global competencies, will serve as a worked example.
Additionally, teachers will be given two developed lesson plans in two content areas excluding
the global competencies. Teachers will be asked to integrate the global competencies into each
lesson plan using the completely developed worked example. The mentorship program presented
earlier would be coordinated to work with individual and groups of teachers to answer questions
and promote the new knowledge necessary for implementation.
The school will work to monitor all recommended solutions, including professional
development opportunities, by conducting surveys during and immediately after professional
development and follow-up activities. If the learning and knowledge component is successful,
teachers will indicate that they know the definition of global education competencies, how to
create lesson plans that integrate global education competencies into their daily plans, have the
ability to create connections with partner schools to support the implementation, and have
meaningful evaluation tools to guide planning and offer opportunities for reflection.
Additionally, teacher surveys through Survey Monkey will be designed to evaluate the
recommended mentorship program for its effectiveness and results will guide improvements.
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In summary, teachers’ knowledge would be evaluated through a review of created lesson
plans to determine the degree by which they are aligned with the training provided.
Level 3: Transfer
This evaluation level measures the impact the implementation has on the teachers in fact
implementing global proficiency training in their classroom. Through observations,
documentation review, survey results and the motivation of teachers to persist through the stage
of full integration of global education competencies across multiple content areas, a decision as
to the effectiveness of the learning to reach organizational goals will be determined. In short, this
level of evaluation answers whether the recommended solutions have contributed to the teachers’
ability to transfer the training into their classroom lessons, which will make a positive impact on
student achievement for global education competency?
In this particular implementation, questions such as: Have the teachers embraced the
implementation process?, Have the teachers actively engaged in the learning of the new material
and made efforts to include the new knowledge in daily lesson plans?, Teachers have shown
evidence in seeking new knowledge on the subject of global education competencies and shared
it with fellow colleagues., Have teachers actively engaged in the support team provided
(mentors, Global Education Director support, online networking connections)?
Level 4: Impact
In Kirkpatrick’s model, the level of evaluating impact simply refers to the success of the
proposed solutions with regard to organizational goal achievement. An evaluation determining
the effect of the proposed solutions is worth investigation. Have the solutions created the
necessary impact to close the performance gaps? Have the desired outcomes been met to this
point? This would be measured through observation of teacher-conducted lessons and the level
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of active participation in training sessions and collaborative group discussions. A
recommendation of random and sporadic interviews with teachers would be beneficial to
determine the level of continued motivation and to head off any unforeseen barriers that could
arise. Ultimately, the student outcomes on the devised assessment tool will indicate a higher
level of proficiency when graduating from this school.
Limitations
A number of limitations were found with this study. Some were related to the way in
which data was gathered. As Clark and Estes (2008) describe, survey items are most appropriate
when a wide net is cast throughout the entire school site, including support staff, students,
parents, Board of Trustees members, and administration. However, this particular study surveyed
and interviewed only teachers in grades Kindergarten to grade 12 as the stakeholder of focus.
While the other stakeholders’ are important to the achievement of the organizational goal, for
practical purposes, the study focused on the experience of the teachers, a critical stakeholder
group.
Another limitation of this study is the varying grade levels and content areas taught by
teachers. This campus encompasses teachers holding credentials to teach single subjects, such as
in the upper grades, as well as teachers holding credentials to teacher multiple subjects, such as
in the primary grades. Implementation of global education competencies curriculum will vary
depending on grade level and subject area being taught. The data collected for this study does not
differentiate for this variation. Additionally, the path of implementation will need to be adjusted
according to grade level participation of certain content areas.
Document analysis was a limiting factor as not all the documents to create cross-school
comparisons were available and, therefore, document analysis investigations were limited and
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benchmarks against similar organizations became impossible. Furthermore, the ability to make
generalization regarding similar school’s knowledge, motivation and organizational support in
regards to global education policy implementation was not included.
As always, limitations of self-reporting instruments to accurately assess the teachers’ true
knowledge and motivation should be taken into consideration.
Future Research
Future research would be beneficial to identify additional barriers, especially as the
implementation process unfolds. The researcher recommends a comparative study showing the
success of implementing global education competencies by specific grade levels or, at least, by
separate divisions. The added value of dividing the school into sections could enhance the
practical strategies of implementation.
Further investigations of document analysis reflecting the comparison between the
identified school’s goals and vision for global education competencies implementation and that
of other schools would provide relevance.
Additional research of the connections made across school-wide planning would be
relevant to the overall vision for school continuity.
Lastly, designing a way to include more teacher responses to the survey would solidify
the findings. In the current study, sixty-five teachers opened the survey to respond to the
questions. However, once the Institutional Review Board (IRB) verification page asked if they
would agree, all but twenty-three teachers declined. It is believed that too many teachers were
intimidated by the wording of the IRB page and decided not to participate.
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Conclusion
This dissertation applied the Gap Analysis Model (Clark & Estes, 2008), to identify
performance gaps in knowledge, motivation and organizational resources related to the teachers’
goal of implementing global education competencies across content areas as designed by the
Academic Dean. Findings contributed to understanding the current level of competence with
regard to global education competencies by teachers. One key finding was that teachers were not
familiar with the definition of global education competencies because this was a new curriculum
area, not yet introduced to teachers. Teachers were unclear of the specifications of global
education competencies, how they would be implemented and how this curriculum relates to
other content areas or to the school vision in total. Although these are determined to be the main
findings, teachers also showed a high level of self-efficacy for the ability to implement this new
policy. However, when asked in an interview setting, majority of teachers could not define
global education competencies. The projection is as teachers gain more understanding of the
factual and conceptual knowledge of global education competencies; teachers’ level of self-
efficacy will become more realistic.
Results indicated teachers are motivated to work toward implementing global education
competencies and willing to engage in professional development opportunities. Additionally,
teachers feel the school organization is supportive of new ideas. Teachers have indicated the
format of past training has been delivered in an understandable manner, however, have made
suggestions of alternative modes of training such as, coaching, in-house experts, lectures, and
reference books.
Setting clear, concrete and measurable goals regarding the implementation and
expectation of global education competencies and the level of expected proficiency by student
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graduates are be essential to student success. Following these goals, a comprehensive, ongoing
plan for professional development would support and continue to motivate teachers throughout
the implementation process. An evaluation model for the proposed solutions based on
Kirkpatrick’s (2006) four-level framework is recommended for monitoring the proposed
solutions. A two-year plan is recommended to see full fruition of knowledge and implementation
plan.
The gap analysis model provides a process not only beneficial to this global education
competency implementation but a model relevant to assist in assessing the many organizational
barriers. This model allowed this particular organization to identify the necessary steps for
transformational change. Allowing the researcher to offer viable recommendations to close
identified gaps that might impede student achievement in global education competencies will
work to provide significant teacher and organizational support when looking to develop this new
policy.
This respected organization is known to make transformations through thoughtful,
research-based and collaborative approaches, never rushing to make quick decisions that could
dampen the success of students. The potential barriers to student achievement were not due to
lack of teacher ability or faulty leadership, but rather due to a desire to make significant progress
in preparing young people to live globally conscientious, culturally inclusive and prepared for
the next phase beyond the K-12 school experience.
In conclusion, the time and effort dedicated to this study by the researcher has proven
valuable to gain insight into the research-based approach of problems solving, one which the
format can be duplicated to solve a multitude of organizational problems.

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APPENDIX A
SURVEY QUESTIONS
Global Education Competency Survey
To operationalize the organization’s understanding and definition of global competencies, please
rate the following statements according to your knowledge of teacher training and global
competencies. Your survey will be completely anonymous.

Teacher Training Experiences

1. I benefit from the teacher training initiated by my school organization. (Motivation)

Strongly agree Agree Neutral / not sure Disagree Strongly agree
1 2 3 4 5

2. In my experience, initiatives implemented by my administration have been valuable to
me as a teacher. (Organization/Motivation: Value)

Strongly agree Agree Neutral / not sure Disagree Strongly agree
1 2 3 4 5

3. School leadership has found value in my requests for teacher training sessions.
(Motivation/Organization)

Strongly agree Agree Neutral / not sure Disagree Strongly agree
1 2 3 4 5

4. I work to implement skills and concepts taught through school wide teacher training
sessions. (Motivation: Value)

Strongly agree Agree Neutral / not sure Disagree Strongly agree
1 2 3 4 5

5. The time allocated for teacher training of new concepts is appropriate. (Organization)

Strongly agree Agree Neutral / not sure Disagree Strongly agree
1 2 3 4 5

6. I would like to see our teacher training sessions held for a shorter amount of time.
(Motivation/Organization)

Strongly agree Agree Neutral / not sure Disagree Strongly agree
1 2 3 4 5

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7. Teacher training at my school site provides follow-up learning opportunities through
teacher collaboration. (Organization)

Strongly agree Agree Neutral / not sure Disagree Strongly agree
1 2 3 4 5

8. In past experiences with teacher training at my school site, the material was generally
delivered in an understandable manner. (Organization)

Strongly agree Agree Neutral / not sure Disagree Strongly agree
1 2 3 4 5

9. I prefer information provided in a lecture style manner with knowledgeable guest
speakers. (Organization/Motivation)

Strongly agree Agree Neutral / not sure Disagree Strongly agree
1 2 3 4 5

10. I prefer new information to be taught with ample opportunity to collaborate in small
group settings including grade/subject level compatible teaches.
(Organization/Motivation)

Strongly agree Agree Neutral / not sure Disagree Strongly agree
1 2 3 4 5

11. I prefer new information to be taught through coaching style-training sessions with
observations of model teaching. (Motivation: Intrinsic value)

Global Education Competencies

Definition: Global education competence is the capacity and disposition to understand and act on
issues of global significance including, but not limited to, investigating the world, recognizing
perspectives, communicating ideas and taking action (Mansilla & Jackson, p. xiii , 2011).

Examples:
Math:
a. Explore the origins of counting.
b. Recognize and express through appropriate language mathematical and
statistical representations to effectively communicate with diverse audiences.

Language Arts:
a. Connecting across continents to encourage multiple perspectives on common
literature pieces allowing a broader perspective and varied cultural context.
b. Helping students to explain how cultural interactions within and around text
are important to situations, events, issues or themes.
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Science:
a. Helping students to discover scientific discoveries made by various countries
and how these discoveries benefited the United States.

Social Studies:
a. An examination of how individuals, societies, events, and the development of
knowledge are influenced by the interactions of ideas, goods, capital and
people.

Arts:
a. Students use the arts to recognize their own and others’ perspectives through
learning about multiple schools of thought and how their influence the
experiences of the world.

Given the definition of global education competencies and the few examples listed, please
rate the following statements according to your knowledge of global education
competencies. As stated, your responses will be completely anonymous.

12. I am confident in my ability to implement global education strategies across at least three
content areas. (Motivation: Self efficacy)

Strongly agree Agree Neutral / not sure Disagree Strongly agree
1 2 3 4 5

13. I am confident in my ability to understand the interdependency of concepts such as world
events, conditions, and issues. (Motivation: self efficacy)

Strongly agree Agree Neutral / not sure Disagree Strongly agree
1 2 3 4 5

14. I am confident I have the ability to demonstrate respect for cultural differences.
(Motivation)

Strongly agree Agree Neutral / not sure Disagree Strongly agree
1 2 3 4 5

15. I believe I have enough autonomy over my daily curriculum to design and implement
global education competencies across content areas. (Organization/Motivation – mental
effort)

Strongly agree Agree Neutral / not sure Disagree Strongly agree
1 2 3 4 5

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16. I am confident in my ability to reflect on my own cultural values and worldview in
relationship to those of others’ worldviews. (Motivation: Self efficacy)

Strongly agree Agree Neutral / not sure Disagree Strongly agree
1 2 3 4 5

17. I believe further teacher training on the subject of global education competencies would
be valuable. (Motivation)

Strongly agree Agree Neutral / not sure Disagree Strongly agree
1 2 3 4 5

18. I would be interested in observing a classroom teacher that has strong skills in
implementing global education competencies. (Motivation: Persistence)

Strongly agree Agree Neutral / not sure Disagree Strongly agree
1 2 3 4 5

19. I would be interested in discussing how the implementation of global education
competencies has benefitted alumni students from various globally competent high
schools. (Motivation: Active choice and effort)

Strongly agree Agree Neutral / not sure Disagree Strongly agree
1 2 3 4 5

20. I am too busy with the adoption of our new curriculum standards to add global
competencies to my daily lesson plan. (Organization/Motivation: active choice and
effort)

Strongly agree Agree Neutral / not sure Disagree Strongly agree
1 2 3 4 5

21. Compared to other teachers on campus, I have a very strong ability to implement global
education competencies. (Motivation: Mental effort, self efficacy)

Strongly agree Agree Neutral / not sure Disagree Strongly agree
1 2 3 4 5

22. If global education competencies were important as a way to keep my school competitive
with other independent schools in the area, I would be willing to implement global
education competencies. (Motivation: persistence)

Strongly agree Agree Neutral / not sure Disagree Strongly agree
1 2 3 4 5

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APPENDIX B
FILL IN THE BLANK SURVEY QUESTIONS
Global Education Competency Survey
To operationalize the organization’s understanding and definition of global education
competencies, please fill in the blank below the questions according to your knowledge of global
education competencies and the training necessary to implement this policy.

23. What can this school organization do to help all teachers place more emphasis on global
education competencies? (Organizational)

24. What type of training do you need to feel comfortable to implement global education
competencies? (Organizational)

25. How important are global education competencies in relation to all the other content
areas? (Motivation)
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APPENDIX C
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Can you think of any other school wide policy that has been initiated on your campus?
(Knowledge)

2. What type of teacher training would you like to see provided to help you feel confident in
the implementation process? (Motivation)

3. Can you describe your most favorable way to receive training when initiating new
curriculum policy? The structure as well as timing. (Knowledge)

4. Do you believe it is important to integrate global education competencies across content
areas? (Motivation)

5. How can the administration support and encourage the implementation of global
education competencies? (Organization)

6. Can you state the mission or goals of your organization in reference to global education
competencies? (Organization)

7. What is your motivation behind providing a culturally embracing classroom environment,
welcoming new and contradictory ideas? (Motivation)

8. Are you aware of your own culture and identity? How do you make this part of your
student’s lessons and lives? (Knowledge, metacognition)

9. What do you already know and what do you want to learn about global education
competencies? (Motivation, persistence)

10. What types of resources would you need to help you gain knowledge in the area of global
education competencies? (Motivation, persistence)

11. Looking back on implementing new initiatives, were you satisfied with the training?
(Organization)

12. When implementing new initiatives, did your school encourage collaboration among all
stakeholders? (Organization)

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APPENDIX D
DOCUMENT ANALYSIS PROTOCOL
Utilizing Mansilla and Jackson’s (2013) definition of global competencies as well as guiding
questions around knowledge, motivation and organization will act as a foundation for document
analysis. The following documents will be analyzed:

Benchmark Schools
Strategic Plan
Global Competencies exams
Mission Statements
Culminating Projects
Identified School Documents
Global Educ. Task Force documents
Harvard Assessment Seminar-JRPO
California Association of Independent Schools (CAIS)
reports (2006)
Assessment of Inclusivity and Multiculturalism (2009)

The following criteria will guide the research:
1. School mission statements
School mission statement references the
importance of providing curriculum with a
global emphasis.
Circle one:
YES NO

2. Strategic Plans—One to four Likert Scale answers.
3. Global Education Task Force documents.
References the importance of
global education competencies.
1
None
2
Some
3
More
4
A lot
Level of importance in comparison
to the overall curriculum
1
None
2
Some
3
More
4
A lot
Level to which global education
competencies is based in research
1
None
2
Some
3
More
4
A lot
Are global education competencies
a theme throughout the entire
document, across all content areas?
1
None
2
Some
3
More
4
A lot

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4. Global Education Competency Exams
Name of Exam: ______________________ Date of results: ___________________
Student’s level of proficiency.
Percentage score of proficiency.
Scores of the highest 10% of students
1
<30%
2
31-50%
3
51-75%
4
76-100%
At what grade level is the exam given:
(circle appropriate grade level)
K 1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10
11 12
Is a certificate awarded at the end of the
program or exam?
Yes No
List three example questions from the
exam that reflect global education
competencies as defined by Mansilla and
Jackson (2013)

Protocol Detail
The following protocol tools were designed with respect to the first guiding question of this
study:

What are the knowledge, motivation, and organizational needs for instructors to
implement all global education competencies across curricular content areas?

Utilizing Robert Rueda’s (2011) practical educational theories to develop questions in each of
the essential categories will guide valid, reliable, research based outcomes leading to
identification of organizational barriers to close the existing gaps at the identified school in
regards to global education competencies.

Abstract (if available)

Abstract The identified organization is a college-preparatory school enrolling approximately 1240 students in grades pre-kindergarten to grade twelve. As a school continually seeking to provide students with the most rigorous curriculum, aligned with the desired skills of top tier universities, the school’s administration shows a desire to implement global education competencies as a way to prepare students for the growing international population and travel abroad programs students will encounter in higher education institutions. Additionally, it is believed that by providing a wealth of cultural knowledge, students will be more inclusive and demonstrate an understanding of people different than themselves. The gap analysis framework was used, with modifications for a needs-based analysis, to investigate the knowledge, motivation and organizational needs of the organization necessary for a successful policy implementation. Twenty-three teacher survey responses were collected and nine interviews conducted representing teachers of this school community. A qualitative methods analysis revealed eight specific needs and fifteen recommended solutions. To increase the odds of a successful policy implementation, the organization needs to determine a concrete and meaningful definition of global education competencies as it aligns with the school mission. It was also found that teachers desire foundational knowledge of the definition and training in the concepts and strategies necessary to implement global education competencies with their particular student population. Models of professional development, based on the teacher responses, were recommended to enhance the teacher’s motivation for the subject and its implementation. Together, with sustained motivation, teachers could be very successful implementing global education competencies across multiple content areas.

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University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

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Asset Metadata

Creator Parks, Rhonda R. (author)

Core Title The increasing need for global education competencies in K-12 education

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Global Executive

Publication Date 08/17/2015

Defense Date 07/13/2015

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag barriers and recommendations for implementation,global education competencies,OAI-PMH Harvest,teacher professional development

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Seli, Helena (committee chair)

Creator Email parks.rhonda@gmail.com,rhondapa@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c3-636814

Unique identifier UC11305695

Identifier etd-ParksRhond-3832.pdf (filename),usctheses-c3-636814 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-ParksRhond-3832.pdf

Dmrecord 636814

Document Type Dissertation

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights Parks, Rhonda R.

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA