(604)PREPARING STUDENTS TO BE GLOBALLY COMPETITIVE IN THE 21ST CENTURY: EXPLORING EDUCATIONAL LEADERS' GLOBALMINDEDNESS AND STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT IN NORTH CAROLINA PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS

摘要

As globalization asserts a greater presence in our society, schools are faced with ensuring theirstructure and curriculum are preparing students for the demands of living and working in a new,expanded economy. Schools must prepare students to succeed through an infusion of 21st centuryskills, while also ensuring they can compete at an international level. Although teachers have dailyand direct contact with students, it is the principal's leadership that provides the vision and focus forthe school. The principal's role in initiating and/or sustaining a successful global focus is pivotal tostudent success;;thus, a principal's global-mindedness is potentially a critical factor.This study examined the relationship between global-mindedness in North Carolina public high schoolprincipals and student achievement. Using a mixed methods approach that included a demographicsurvey, the Global-Mindedness Survey (GMS), and North Carolina school characteristics data, theensuing study contributed to the research and findings in global-mindedness, student achievement,and educational leadership. The results are intended to have significant implications for school leadersin terms of identifying the attributes and dimensions necessary for shaping 21st century schools.This study identified several variables associated with a principal's global-mindedness. Namely, aprincipal's gender, race/ethnicity, and travel experience were most strongly related to globalmindedness.The school size, number of fluent languages, and years in education were found to bemarginally associated with global-mindedness. Additionally, this study found that principals are stilldeveloping their conceptualization of global awareness in the 21st century. The analysis demonstratedthe principals' conceptualization was largely grounded in theory rather than experience.