Vision

American-sponsored overseas schools will know how standards-based education can and should strengthen a school’s curriculum, teaching, assessment, and, most importantly, student learning. These schools will develop and sustain a program of standards-based learning in their schools.

Mission

• Provide challenging, professionally-validated, voluntary academic standards for use as a foundation for curriculum in American-sponsored schools overseas
• Assist overseas schools to develop their own K-12 curricula that are grounded in standards
• Train teachers to use the AERO standards as the basis for assessing their students’ progress and their own instruction
• Assist schools in developing standards-based curricula and sustaining curricula by becoming professional communities of learners.

About AERO

AERO is a project supported by the U.S. State Department’s Office of Overseas Schools (A/OPR/OS) and the Overseas Schools Advisory Council to assist schools in developing and implementing standards-based curricula. Project faculty use the AERO standards as the basis of the professional development they provide.

AERO provides a framework for curriculum consistency across grades K-12 and for stability of curriculum in overseas schools, which typically have a high rate of teacher turnover. AERO’s resources, workshops, and professional consultation services help overseas schools implement and sustain standards-based curricula. This effort is in alignment with research-based trends in the development of curriculum worldwide, and particularly with the Common Core initiative in the U.S.