All Things Texas Tech Provost Home All Things Texas Tech Archive ATTT Spcing 2013 Volum~ 5. Number 1 March 2013 About Archive Provost Home a I .1.t ..tJ ..i.r~ ..9 .. ?. .. ~ ..~ ..0 . ..q ..?. .~ .. ~ .. c h I'he Journal of llighcr Educarion at TTU TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY • NEED HELP? The Remarkable Expansion of Its Program in Brazil Bob Smith and Carole Edwards The Texas Tech University Independent School District (TTUISD} English language high school diploma program in Brazil has expanded dramatically during the last year. and evidence for its continuing quality growth was gathered during a recent trip to Fortaleza and Recife in the northeast corner of the country. (Read More) Texas Tech Students of Integrated Scholarship of 2013 Bob Smith, Rachel Pierce, and Scott Irlbeck We turn our attention to twelve students who, akin to many faculty members, have been thriving as they follow a path of lifelong learning as Students of Integrated Scholarship. (Read More) Fundamentals of Scholarly and Research Integrity Kenneth D. Pimple This paper concerns academic, scholarly, and research integrity across the whole range, including arts and humanities, social sciences, life science, physical science, and professional areas such as law, education, medicine, and business. (Read r.tore) A ITT Notes Open Teaching Concept 201 3: Teaching Diversity Across the Curriculum Aliza Wong and Jobi Martinez The aim of the Open Teaching Concept is to explore the issues of diversity and social justice, access and dispar~ies, policy and poverty over a variety of disciplines, methods, theories, and paradigms. (Read More) On Commencement Love of Place, Emulate Those Family and Who Are Community, and Serving and Learning! Those Who Have Served Bob Smith Before You Provost of Texas Tech University Ray Mabus, Jr. United States Secretary of the Navy Online Institutional Resumes State of Texas 1State wide Search I Texas Homeland Security I Texas Veterans Portal I SAO Fraud Reporting I Energy Management I General Policy Information TTU Home I TIU System I TIU Health Sciences Center I Angelo State University I TIU Health Sciences Center at El Paso I Contact Us ® 201 4 Texas Tech University 1A ll Rights Reserve<! I Last modifie<l: May 27, 201 4. 11 :06am Volume 5, Number 1; March 2013 TTUISD: The Remarkable Expansion of Its Program in Brazil Written by Bob Smith and Carole Edwards “Then—tomorrow was another day Morning found me miles away... And now, when twilight dims the sky above... There's just one thing I'm certain of Return, I will, to old Brazil.” …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. —From the song "Brazil" or "Aquarela do Brasil" (1939, lyrics and music by Brazilian Ary Barroso—literally a "watercolor portrait" of a beloved home) with the lyrical English interpretation crafted by the American Sidney Keith "Bob" Russell. The song was included in Walt Disney's animated film Saludos Amigos, commissioned by the US Department of State in 1941 to support a South American goodwill tour to blunt Nazi influence across the continent. The Texas Tech University Independent School District (TTUISD) English language high school diploma program in Brazil has expanded dramatically during the last year, and evidence for its continuing quality growth was gathered during a recent trip to Fortaleza and Recife in the northeast corner of the country. What has come to be known cryptically as the TTUISD–Brazil Program is also becoming an emerging model for global outreach. Background TTUISD was established in 1992, with a mission including the provision of K-12 education and particularly high school course and diploma studies, principally in nontraditional situations. For example, consider the following: • Students who, because of their vocation or avocational goals (e.g., actors, gymnasts, and other specially gifted students), cannot attend school under typical conditions have used TTUISD to pursue K-12 studies. • Fathers and mothers in military or diplomatic service have turned to TTUISD for K-12 studies for their sons and daughters. • Parents home-schooling children who may have felt inadequately prepared to instruct their progeny in subjects such as math or science have used individual course options from TTUISD for their daughters and sons. • Families living in rural areas of Texas or other states have relied on TTUISD to provide course options in cases where school districts were unable to hire first-line instructors or where select offerings were unavailable. • In a program started in 2000 but reinvigorated in 2009, TTUISD has linked up with the consortium High School Seviços Educationais (HSE) in Brazil to craft special opportunities for gifted high school students whose parents believe that their country's future leadership will require not only high school educational opportunities in English but also programs that have a strong global orientation. Since 1992, TTUISD has served more than 290,000 students worldwide via myriad programs such as those noted above (TTUISD Catalog, 2012-2013). Through its administrators and its more than fifty teachers and staff, courses and curricular options have been developed by teacher scholars and used in ways to ensure high-quality instruction and learning. But the rapidly expanding program in Brazil deserves additional special attention because of its recent growth and emergence as a model for educational outreach efforts in other parts of the world. TTUISD Programs in Brazil In the first paper in this series (Smith, 2012) we reported that TTUISD's English language instruction and Brazilian-based high school diploma program, which is accredited by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and now certified through the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) End Of Course (EOC) examinations, enrolled approximately 1,100 students in twenty-four schools in the fall of 2011. In just fifteen months, TTUISD offerings have expanded to include forty schools, which are serving more than 2,200 students this spring. As noted in Figure 1, the schools represent a north-to-south span of more than 2,000 miles (from Florianopolis on the southeast coast to Sao Luis on the Northeast coast) and an east-to-west span of more than 3,000 miles from Recife (on the far east coast) to Manaus (in the Amazon region). While any parent in the world may enroll a son or daughter in the TTUISD Web-based high school diploma program, the program available in Brazil has unique structure and characteristics. The TTUISD-Brazil program in 2013 is administered as a consortium (High School Seviços Educationais) through forty schools that employ teachers who are native English speakers—typically recruited from the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Students matriculated in the program are simultaneously enrolled in a Portuguese-based Brazilian curriculum, and those who successfully complete the programs receive two diplomas. The degree certified through the State of Texas, however, could offer graduates an entree into any college or university in the United States and in many other higher education institutions in the world. Students enrolled in the dual-diploma programs attend school from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. five days a week and receive instruction in the humanities and social sciences (including communications courses) through TTUISD curricular materials that are supplemented by glossaries prepared by local faculties for words with unfamiliar translated equivalents. Instruction is face to face and stresses oral and written communication skills in all offerings. During recent visits to the Christus and Santa Cecilia (Fortaleza) and Damas (Recife) schools, we noted clear commitments to course rigor and quality in teachers and administrators of the programs. As in prior experiences in Vitoria and Sao Paulo, we found the Brazilian TTUISD students to be bright, mature, poised, and engaged seriously in their studies. Additionally, their English proficiency skills were excellent. These elite groups of students not only take their studies seriously but also consider it a privilege to be able to enroll in classes offered through an American program. We were stunned by their warm welcome, overwhelming enthusiasm, and pride for an institution located more than 4,000 miles away from their homeland. In fact, it is important to note that since the beginning of the TTUISD commitments in Brazil, no schools have dropped out of the program. In Fortaleza, we offered presentations on modern learning and leadership concepts along with descriptions of opportunities for TTUISD- Brazilian students at Texas Tech, with a special emphasis on foreign language studies. The parents of Brazilian TTUISD students who attended the presentations expressed keen interest in their sons and daughters being able to function effectively in the English-based worlds of commerce and law. The parents also offered words of appreciation for the robustness of the TTUISD curriculum, especially in the development of international understanding and communication skills. Our visit gave them the opportunity to ask us more practical questions such as necessary steps to enroll at Texas Tech, visa requirements, financial aid benefits, and scholarships. Since our return, parents eager to register their children at TTU have already contacted us. On November 23, we attended a Christus graduation exercise in Fortaleza. The event was held in an indoor sports court the size of the floor of the United Spirit Arena. The guests sat at round tables placed throughout the court. In a very formal setting, the tables and chairs were covered in white linen, and the guests were served soft drinks and hors-d'oeuvres during the evening. Officials, family members, and guests were greeted by the playing of the Brazilian national anthem by the Brazilian Navy Band. The ceremony included entertainment by a three-person country western band (!), skits, and various dances choreographed by student groups. Following a set of commencement speeches (including remarks by one of us, as noted in this issue of ATTT), the TTUISD graduates were awarded their diplomas along with Double T commemorative pins.