Our Model

In 2003, Asia Society launched a network of schools with an ambitious, two-part mission: close the achievement gap for low-income and historically underserved secondary students, and address the growing opportunity gap between what American schools typically teach and the knowledge, skills, and dispositions required for full participation in a global economy. The founders of the International Studies Schools Network (ISSN) believed that these two goals could be achieved concurrently. What’s more, they hypothesized that a rich, global curriculum that engaged students in investigating and addressing real-world problems could, in fact, provide a more efficient route to college and career preparedness.

Since its inception, Asia Society's ISSN has built a broad network of high-performing, globally oriented schools that demonstrate what a rigorous global education can do for a largely low-income, urban student population. Along the way, Asia Society and the ISSN schools have designed a robust approach to performance-based learning and assessment that has implications well beyond the network, offering lessons for policymakers and practitioners concerned about preparing students to live and work in an increasingly complex world.

Learn More

• Email the Education Partnerships team at edpartnerships@asiasociety.org or call 212-327-9260.
• Watch how ISSN is developing globally competent, college-ready students.

Developing Global Competence

To reach the ultimate goal of developing globally competent students, ISSN provides professional development to build teachers' capacity for best practices in curriculum, assessment, and instruction. While we have over ten years of expertise in supporting whole school design and are able to provide technical assistance in areas such as school culture, professional learning communities, partnerships, and school governance, our focus is on what we call the Graduation Performance System (GPS), a learning system aligned to the Common Core that supports teachers and leaders with deeply integrating global competence for student learning.