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 …

More about the book:

11-11-2009: Primary Source reviews my book: http://www.primarysource.org/catching-up-or-leading-the-way
09-11-2009: Fred Deutsch writes about the book on his blog: http://www.school-of-thought.net/?p=898
29-10-2009: Laura Berman writes in Detroit News about the book and an interview with me: http://bit.ly/4bcuy
28-10-2009: Dr. Suzie Oh in Korea writes about the book. Here is the link in English with Google Translation: http://bit.ly/FgxBy and here is the original Korean version: http://bit.ly/2ogsC9, if you can read Korean.
16-10-1009: Correction: A reader pointed out an error in the book. On page 31, the book says “Senator Judd Gregg, a republican from Vermont,” …

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. …

The Fall issue of AASA Journal of Scholarship and Practice includes a commentary of mine on the common core standards. This article gives me more space to lay out my views and bring evidence to support them than the Op-ed piece published in Detroit Free Press. The issue also includes a thoughtful editorial on standards. You can read the entire issue here and my article starts from page 46.

Yesterday(September 24, 2009)  Secretary of Education Arne Duncan delivered his first major speech about the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) 1965. The law’s last reauthorization took place in 2002 and resulted in what is known today as No Child Left Behind (NCLB). In his speech, Duncan acknowledged that NCLB has significant flaws and promised to work with Congress to correct the problems. But based on this and his previous speeches as well as the actions of the US Department of Education under his leadership, I must …

In a recent interview, I criticized the misperception that somehow Americans are less interested in the education than their Asian counterparts. American parents have been said to be not as devoted to their children’s education as Asian parents, so have been American teachers, and the American public. In the interview, I said, I believe barring some exceptions, all parents, Asian and American and African and European, are all interested in their children’s education because all we are genetically programmed to want the best for all off-springs. After all, they are …

“Singapore Teachers: Lead. Care. Inspire.”
This is the vision statement recently unveiled by the Ministry of Education (MOE) in Singapore for its teachers. Since 2008, the MOE has engaged in a nationwide effort to develop a vision for the teaching profession that express “the aspiration of the professionals and points the way forward,” according to a speech by Ms. Ho Peng, Director-General of Education of the Ministry of Education delivered on August 26, 2009. The MOE worked with teachers and school leaders to identify the core values and aspirations of educators. …

On August 6th, the Missouri State Board of Education voted to join the Common Standards Initiative. This means that only three states (Alaska, South Carolina, and Texas) are not part of this national movement. Unless something happens right now, the U.S. will enter a new era of education marked by standards. The traditional strengths of American education, which have already been eroded by NCLB, will be further damaged by these standards. And the damages may not be reversable.

One of the selling points of common academic standards for all states in the US is that they will ensure equity and fairness in the education a child receives, wherever he or she lives. But this is false advertisement.
First, the quality of education a child receives depends on the quality of his teachers, his school leaders, his friends, his family, and his neighborhood. If a school does not have high quality staff and leaders, no matter how high the bar is set at, the student will not receive the same …

It seems that the U.S. will soon have national education standards that will be adopted and implemented in most of the nation. This is a very significant political victory for the national standards proponents, who have been working on it for over two decades. The first President Bush and President Clinton tried it but failed. Now President Obama will have it without even having to convince Congress or the nation, as he is trying with health care reform. This is the part that is strange and not right—something that will …