Whether the United States should embrace national standards and tests for its schools is perhaps today's hottest education issue. For guidance in addressing it, the newest Fordham report looks beyond our borders. How have other countries navigated these turbid waters? What do their systems look like? How did they get there? What can we learn from them? Expert analysts examined national standards and testing in Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, the Netherlands, Russia, Singapore and South Korea. This report presents their key takeaways.

Policy Priority:
High Expectations
Topics:
Standards
DOWNLOAD PDF

Sharif Shakrani is a professor of measurement and quantitative methods and co-director of the Education Policy Center at MSU. His research interests include analysis of the effects of national and state accountability systems on student achievement; use of research in setting educational policy; impact of national efforts to enhance student’s participation and achievements in mathematics, science, and technology…

View Full Bio

Richard Houang is the Director of Research for Promoting Rigorous Outcomes in Mathematics and Science Education (PROM/SE). In this capacity he oversees all areas of research design and data collection from nearly 60 districts, teachers, and over 300,000 K-12 students. His research interests include educational statistics, psychometrics, and computing technology. Richard joined the faculty at Michigan State University in…

View Full Bio

William Schmidt is a University Distinguished Professor and currently co-director of the Michigan State University Education Policy Center, co-director of the US-China Center for Research on Educational Excellence and co-director of the Promoting Rigorous Outcomes in Mathematics and Science Education (PROM/SE) project. He also holds faculty appointments in measurement and quantitative methods and the Department of…

View Full Bio

Related Resources