Strong performers and successful reformers in education : lessons from PISA for the United States / Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

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"This work is published on the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD"--T.p. verso.

"Corrigenda to OECD publications may be found online at: www.oecd.org/publishing/corrigenda"--T.p. verso.

"Programme for International Student Assessment"--Cover.

"The report was prepared under the responsibility of the Indicators and Analysis Division of the OECD Directorate for Education"--Foreword.

This volume is the result of a collaborative effort between the OECD, the National Center on Education and the Economy in Washington, government officials of the case study countries discussed, as well as international experts.

OECD code: 98 2011 01 1 P.

Includes bibliographical references.

Chapter 1. Introduction -- A changing yardstick for educational success -- Overview -- Framework for analysis -- What is PISA and what can we learn from it? -- How can PISA be used to help improve educational systems? -- Reserach methods employed for the country chapters -- Chapter 2. Viewing Education in the United States through the Prism of PISA -- Learning outcomes -- Equity in the distribution of learning opportunities -- The learning environment in the classroom and at school -- How schooling is organised -- Assessment and accountability arrangements -- Assessment policies and practices -- Resources -- References -- Chapter 3. Ontario, Canada : Reform to Support High Achievement in a Diverse Context -- Introduction -- The Canadian education system -- Canadian success in education -- Canadian success in educating immigrant children -- The Ontario experience -- Lessons from Ontario -- Where is Canada on the education continuum? -- Final observations -- References -- Chapter 4. Shanghai and Hong Kong: Two Distinct Examples of Education Reform in China -- Introduction -- China's education system: The cultural context -- China's education system: The historical context -- Teachers and teaching -- Continuous curriculum reform -- Shanghai : A leader in reform -- Hong Kong's education system : One country, two systems -- Achievements and challenges in Hong Kong's education system -- Lessons from Shanghai and Hong Kong -- Final observations -- References -- Chapter 5. Finland : Slow and Steady Reform for Consistently High Results -- Introduction -- History of the Finnish education system -- Finnish success in education -- Future challenges for Finnish education -- Lessons from Finland -- Final observations -- References -- Chapter 6. Japan : A Story of Sustained Excellence -- Introduction -- The Japanese education system : Historical and social context -- The key features of Japan's education system today -- How Japan's education system is changing to meet today's challenges -- Lessons from Japan -- Where is Japan on the educational continuum? -- References -- Chapter 7. Singapore : Rapid Improvement Followed by Strong Performance -- Introduction -- Singapore's education system : The path to becoming a learning nation -- Sinapore's success in education -- Future challenges for Singapore's education system -- Lessons from Singapore -- Where is Singapore on the educational continuum? -- References -- Chapter 8. Brazil : Encouraging Lessons from a Large Federal System -- Introduction -- Brazil's education system : A brief history -- Reform takes shape -- Industry perspectives on education in Brazil -- Case studies of state education reform -- State of Acre -- State of Ceara -- State of Sao Paulo -- Lessons from Brazil -- Where is Brazil on the educational continuum? -- Final observations -- References -- Chapter 9. Germany : Once Weak International Standing Prompts Strong Nationwide Reforms for Rapid Improvement -- Introduction -- A historical perspective -- The German education reforms -- Understanding the impact of the German education reforms -- Lessons from Germany -- Where is Germany on the education continuum? -- References -- Chapter 10. vignettes on Education Reforms : England and Poland -- England : Tackling teacher shortages -- Poland : Secondary education reform -- References -- Chapter 11. Lessons for the United States -- Introduction -- Learning from high-performing education systems -- America's assets.

US President Obama has launched one of the world's most ambitious education reform agendas. Under the heading "Race to the Top", this agenda encourages US states to adopt internationally benchmarked standards and assessments that prepare students for success in college and the workplace: recruit, develop, reward, and retain effective teachers and principals; build data systems that measure student success; and inform teachers and principals how they can improve their practices and turn around their lowest-performing schools. But what does the "top" look like internationally? How have the countries at the top managed to achieve sustained high performance or to significantly improve their performance? This volume combines an analysis of PISA with a description of the policies and practices of those education systems that are close to the top or advancing rapidly, in order to offer insights for policy from their reform trajectories.--Publisher's description.