Wait...we're 17th?!?!

“The Smartest kids in the World: And how they got that way,” a new book by Journalist and Author, Amanda Ripley, begins the conversation, with PBS NewsHour, of exactly how the topped ranked education systems in the world made it to the top of the list.

It's a harsh reality to many Americans but...we're not #1. Not in education, anyway. We're 17th. Yes, you heard that right. In the rankings of First World Countries in the world, the United States is outranked by 16 other countries with Finland and South Korea leading the pack.  The instrument of measure is the PISA, designed specifically to look at your ability not to memorize knowledge, but to use it to solve problems that you have never seen before...in other words, critical thinking.

So what can America, and subsequently, its teachers learn from our international neighbors?  It's a fascinating read and a great way for our educators to start thinking outside the box, in the classroom.

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