China’s Peking University (or Beida) has been under fire for trying to answer the nation’s call for more innovative and creative talents. In an attempt to attract more “unusual or extraordinary students” who may not do well on standardized testing, in this case, China’s infamous Gaokao (College Entrance Exam), Beida, one of the two most sought-after universities, decided to admit a very small number of (less than 3%) students based on recommendations of high school principals. Although these recommended students would still take the College Entrance Exam and go through …

I have been reading through the 775-page final notice document to be published in the Federal Register on November 18, 2009. It includes the final versions of application guidelines, selection criteria and priorities for the $4.35 billion Race to the Top Fund (RTT), the largest education grant in U.S. history.
I can guess from news reports, op-ed pieces, and blog posts that many states are working hard to prepare their applications. From my reading of the criteria, I think the following are the winning strategies and actions to include in the …

On October 28, the New York Times reported a federal study that finds that nearly a third of the states in the U.S. lowered their academic standards in recent years, a phenomenon called  “Race to the Bottom” by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. A day later, the same paper reports a story about a New York City school principal being accused of tampering with student grades in order to boost graduation rates in the school. Stories like these are not new. There have been many other reports about schools, states, …

There is widespread fear that US is not preparing enough talents in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) while its global competitors, such as China and India, are producing a lot more engineers and scientists. And this fear has been used to fuel investment in STEM education in the United States.  For example, a report produced by the National Academies of Sciences at the request of Congress in 2005 and published in 2007 (with a revision in 2008) says that “Last year more than 600,000 engineers graduated from institutions of …

China has been working on another round of major education reforms. A national team of government leaders, education officials, and education leaders have been working on a mid and long term strategic plan that will guide education development in China for the next decade or so for over year now. The team is led by China’s Premier Wen Jiabao. The team issued a national call for comments and suggestions in the summer and has received tens of thousands of them online and through traditional means.
I was in China last week. …

Last week, getideas.org published a post of mine on its Thought Leader’s blog. I am reposting it here.
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In my new book Catching Up or Leading the Way, I mostly focus on issues facing education in the United States noting that the current education reform efforts, with their emphasis on standards, testing, and outcome-based (read test score-based) accountability, are unlikely to make Americans “globally competitive.”
Instead, what America needs is an education system that cultivates a diversity of talents and develops “unique niche talents” that are not available at a cheaper price …

Chris Knott, Principal of the International Baccalaureate World Elementary School in Raleigh, North Carolina shared this excellent song by Tom Chapin–it’s a funny, but really sad description of what has happened to education in the U.S..
http://www.notonthetest.com/index.html
Thanks, Chris.

10-12-2009: WNYC’s Brian Lehrer show interview about my book: http://www.wnyc.org/shows/bl/episodes/2009/10/12

To those who want to learn more about innovation and creativity in China, I suggest that you listen to to read the transcript of this series produced by PRI and reported by The World’s Asian Correspondent: Mary Kay Magistad. While it is very consistent with what I have written in my book, Catching Up or Leading the Way, it draws on different sources.
Part III of the series examines “the ways China’s educational system thwarts innovation.” Here are some of the highlights:
“Innovation comes not just from infrastructure and investment – it …

Yesterday, Sean Cavanagh, a reporter of Education Week, wrote about my book on Ed Week’s Curriculum Matters blog under the title Chinese-American Scholar on American Education, and Foreign Competition. Thanks.