The International Experience

Undoubtedly, the United States has much to learn from education systems in other countries. Once the world's education leader, the U.S. has seen the percentage of its high-school students who are proficient trail that of 31 other countries in math and 16 countries in reading, according to a recent study by Harvard's Program on Education Policy and Governance (PEPG). Whereas only 32 percent of U.S. 8th graders are proficient in math, 50 percent of Canadian students and nearly 60 percent of Korean and Finnish students perform at that level. Given these performance disparities, it is only natural to think that there is something to be learned from practices elsewhere. During the August 2011 conference on "Learning from the International Experience," sponsored by Harvard's Program on Education Policy and Governance, many who attended said the conference had sparked conversations well beyond the usual boundaries on thinking about U.S. education policy, whether the issue was teacher reforms, school choice, the development of common standards and school accountability, or the promise of learning online. The conference was most successful in inspiring participants with a renewed understanding of and dedication to their common commitment to a better system of education. The commitment is now informed by the experience of other countries with similar challenges that have managed, through sustained and consistent policies to find solutions.