When it comes to ensuring that all students have excellent teachers, top-performing countries seem to know something the United States doesn't.
Industrialized countries are in broad agreement that if there's a key to high student achievement, the quality of teachers is that key. But that's where the agreement ends. Countries as different as China, Finland, Canada, and Singapore, all of which rank much higher than the United States in international comparisons of student achievement, hold one view about what it takes to improve teacher quality; the United States, virtually alone, holds another.
This difference undoubtedly accounts for much of the difference in national performance. Indeed, I believe that the prevailing U.S. reform agenda will lead to lower, not higher, teacher quality, whereas the strategies our most successful competitors are pursuing will enable them to pull further and further ahead. Let's take a look at these strategies.
Winning Strategies from Around the World
Raise the Standards—A Lot
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