Preparing for a Global Society: Lessons from Successful Education Systems across the World

Anya Niazov

Abstract


The world is becoming an increasingly interconnected marketplace not only for goods and services but also for education and ideas.  This paper focuses on U.S. students’ preparation for a global society through an exploration of the literature regarding international academic achievement.  It first explores the notion that U.S. academic achievement is not successful by international standards.  Then, by analyzing testing data from the Program for International Student Assessment (P.I.S.A.) and the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (T.I.M.S.S.) it reveals a number of countries including Canada, Finland, Singapore and Japan that have produced high levels of achievement when compared to the U.S.  Going beyond the tests, it then looks at how these countries have organized their educational systems to be successful and specifically examines their utilization of educational resources, attempts to achieve educational equity, and improve teacher quality.  Cultural differences and the challenges of implementing successful international strategies in America are expressed.  Based on the literature, it is apparent that there are multiple ways to achieve academic success in the educational world and that given this multiplicity of successes, our struggling education system has a variety of strategies it can employ to regain a position of international preeminence.

https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.17.1.5


Keywords


international comparative education, international tests, teacher training, cultural differences, United States, Japan, Singapore, Canada, Finland, PISA, TIMSS

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References


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