The World Leaders in Education: Lessons from the Successes and Drawbacks of Their Methods

The World Leaders in Education: Lessons from the Successes and Drawbacks of Their Methods explores the practices and policies that the highest-ranking nations in education implement to achieve their success. Topics include the education of disadvantaged students; cultural attitudes toward education; teacher preparation; and teacher salaries. Eight countries are examined: China, Japan, Singapore, Canada, New Zealand, South Korea, Finland, and the United States. The United States is discussed for several reasons, including its large number of strong performers on international tests and its notable history in education. The book looks at both the successes and the failings of these nations, and also mentions the possibilities and limitations of implementing the practices of world-class nations in education in areas where students tend to perform poorly on tests like the PISA. This book may be used for undergraduate and graduate courses such as comparative education.

Hani Morgan is Associate Professor in the Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Special Education at the University of Southern Mississippi. He is the author of over 30 published articles on various topics involving the education of K-12 students. He received a master’s degree in international education from Teachers College, Columbia University, and graduated from Rutgers University with a doctoral degree in foundations of educations.

Christopher Barry is a faculty member in the Department of Psychology at Washington State University. His research areas include the role of youth self-perception in behavioral and emotional adjustment, evidence-based assessment of youth academic and psychological functioning, and outcomes tied to out-of-school learning experiences. His collaborative work on the impact of out-of-school STEM learning has received funding from the National Science Foundation.