On virtually every measure, student performance in the United States lags behind many other nations around the world. U.S. fourth graders’ performance in math and science, on average, is below that of their peers in many countries such as Singapore and Japan. While fourth graders perform relatively well in reading, U.S. students still underperform compared to their peers in other industrialized nations through high school. Given these skill gaps, U.S. students are substantially disadvantaged in the competition for jobs in the global economy.
Please join the Center for American Progress for a discussion about how high-performing nations organize, manage, and fund their schools through the release of three new papers. Marc Tucker will explain the education systems in high-performing nations and recommend an expanded role for state education agencies in the United States. Ben Jensen will describe how Shanghai fosters close partnerships between low- and high-performing schools. Juliana Herman’s work highlights more equitable funding structures in some Canadian provinces. Panelists will also explore what lessons we can learn from around the world about how to govern our schools.
Featured Panelists:
Chester E. Finn, Jr., President, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
Ben Jensen, School Education Program Director, Grattan Institute (Australia)
Lydia Logan, Managing Director, Chiefs for Change
Marc Tucker, President and Chief Executive Officer, National Center on Education and the Economy
Moderator:
Cynthia G. Brown, Vice President for Education Policy, Center for American Progress