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Introduction

15 January, 2016 - 09:21
Available under Creative Commons-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Download for free at http://cnx.org/contents/469c94af-40cb-4ed1-bf02-3dcd5ac4b753@2.4

Schools and colleges around the world must be culturally competent in order to prepare students to succeed in an increasingly diverse and globally interconnected environment. Generally defined, culturally competent educational organizations value diversity in both theory and practice and make teaching and learning relevant and meaningful to students of various cultures (Klotz, 2006).Educational leaders must be equipped with the necessary tools to assess how well policies, programs, and practices align with the needs of diverse groups and prepare people to interact globally. The “culture audit” is a valuable organizational assessment tool to guide strategic planning for diversity and global competence. Potential domains of focus and data collection strategies for schools and colleges are illustrated here. Cultural competence assessment strategies could be included in graduate educational leadership programs to better prepare educational administrators to effectively manage diverse schools and colleges.