Education Abroad Program Quality Checklist for Cultural Agility Development

Use this checklist to evaluate cultural agility development in education abroad programs

What this checklist evaluates

This checklist evaluates whether an education abroad program is intentionally designed to develop cultural agility, defined as the ability to work effectively across unfamiliar, complex, and diverse contexts. It focuses on three areas: cultural values awareness, cultural agility competencies, and program design.

1. Cultural Values Awareness

A high-quality education abroad program explicitly develops student awareness of cultural values that shape behavior, communication, and decision-making.

Indicators:

  • Students identify their own cultural values (e.g., hierarchy, formality, time orientation)

  • Students compare their values to those of others or host cultures

  • Students analyze how values influence behavior in real situations

  • Students revisit and refine their interpretations over time

2. Cultural Agility Competency Development

A high-quality program builds measurable development in core cultural agility competencies.

Core competencies include:

  • Curiosity

  • Perspective-taking

  • Humility

  • Tolerance of ambiguity

  • Resilience

  • Relationship-building

Indicators:

  • Students practice these competencies in real interactions

  • Students receive feedback on their behavior

  • Students reflect on successes and breakdowns

  • Students demonstrate changes in how they interpret and respond to unfamiliar situations

3. Program Design for Behavioral Development

A high-quality education abroad program is intentionally designed to move beyond exposure to structured development.

Indicators:

  • Program includes guided reflection before, during, and after the experience

  • Activities are designed to challenge assumptions and interpretation

  • Students engage in repeated behavioral practice, not one-time exposure

  • Learning is scaffolded across the program rather than left to chance

How to use this checklist

This checklist can be used by faculty, program directors, and administrators to:

  • evaluate existing education abroad programs

  • design new programs with measurable learning outcomes

  • align program activities with cultural agility development

  • support assurance of learning (AoL) and program evaluation

Related Education Abroad Resources

These resources work together to help programs design, deliver, and measure cultural agility in education abroad.