The Smartest Kids in the World: And How They Got That Way in Around the World in 80 Books

Jun 29, 2014 Sera rated it it was amazing

Shelves: non-fiction, favorites, library, parenting

An excellent book that grapples with what makes a country's educational system successful (or not). Of course, the U.S. lags behind, particularly in the areas of math and science. The author puts forth her theories based upon a standardized global test that ranks each country and provides the personal experiences of students who have been educated both in the U.S. and abroad. Specifically, Ripley focuses on Finland, South Korea and Poland and compares their educational systems to the one in the An excellent book that grapples with what makes a country's educational system successful (or not). Of course, the U.S. lags behind, particularly in the areas of math and science. The author puts forth her theories based upon a standardized global test that ranks each country and provides the personal experiences of students who have been educated both in the U.S. and abroad. Specifically, Ripley focuses on Finland, South Korea and Poland and compares their educational systems to the one in the U.S. from the grade school through high school levels.

I actually found that Ripley's theories made sense and that the results of the countries with the "smartest" students spoke for themselves. The U.S.' easy path to becoming a teacher, to its emphasis on self-esteem and sports versus rigor and academics, makes a pretty compelling case that we have it all wrong in this country when it comes to education. We've dumb downed our approach to education, and now we scratch our heads as we watch jobs move overseas because companies can't find talent in the U.S. to fulfill the roles that they have. As we argue over tax cuts and what the minimum wage should be, jobs are relocating less for tax or fiscally-related reasons, but because we are graduating student after student who lacks the problem-solving, critical thinking and communication skills necessary to handle a job that pays well. The world has changed and unfortunately, America hasn't prepared its children for the new skills that are needed to succeed, and we are all to blame for that outcome.

The good news is that change can be made and it can be made rapidly, as Poland has shown. Unfortunately, we need to start with what it takes to become a teacher. Ripley makes a good point that countries, such as Finland, make it very difficult (and therefore, by its nature, more prestigious) to become a teacher. Therefore, the point of entry is where the qualification process takes place, not after a bad teacher is already in the system, and the difficulty associated with trying to take them out.

I encourage everyone to read this book. It has many key insights related to successful educational systems that people of any nation would find useful. ...more

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Oct 13, 2013 Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance rated it really liked it

Shelves: schools, teaching, learning

Is this the best book I’ve read this year about education? Yes, it is. And I’ve read a lot of books this year about education. This one was best of all. It looked at education the way I like to look at things: it looked at education that works. Ripley studied the strong educational systems in three countries, Korea and Finland and Poland, and analyzed why each is so successful.

Lots of lessons here for those of us here in the US who want our children to get an excellent education.

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Jan 31, 2019 superawesomekt rated it it was ok

Shelves: parenting, social-sciences

Read a summary article. Don't waste time on the book. ...more

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Mar 31, 2014 Stephanie rated it really liked it

American educators need to read this book and pay attention to what Ripley says.

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May 22, 2014 Erin (NY) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: books-i-own, non-fiction, parenting, read-in-2014, education

I found this book very illuminating. Having attended school in Russia and then moving to the US in 9th grade, i can relate to a lot of the things talked about in this book, in particular how week the Math taught in the US is. Having particular student "investigators" as exchange students, made it more interesting. ...more

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Jul 13, 2016 Kristen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

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Shelves: education-history, educators-professor-biographies

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Oct 26, 2017 Meghan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: nonfiction, education-school, children-as-protagonists, parenting, audiobook, europe-poland, asia-korea-south, europe-finland, 20th-c, 21st-c

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