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

(Paperback)

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How do other countries create smarter kids What is it like to be a child in the worlds new education superpowers The Smartest Kids in the World gets well beneath the glossy surfaces of these foreign cultures and manages to make our own culture look newly strange....The question is whether the startling perspective provided by this masterly book can also generate the will to make changes (The New York Times Book Review).

In a handful of nations, virtually all children are learning to make complex arguments and solve problems theyve never seen before. They are learning to think, in other words, and to thrive in the modern economy. Inspired to find answers for our own children, author and Time magazine journalist Amanda Ripley follows three Americans embedded in these countries for one year. Kim, fifteen, raises $10,000 so she can move from Oklahoma to Finland; Eric, eighteen, trades his high-achieving Minnesota suburb for a booming city in South Korea; and Tom, seventeen, leaves a historic Pennsylvania village for Poland.

Through these young informants, Ripley meets battle-scarred reformers, sleep-deprived zombie students, and a teacher who earns $4 million a year. Their stories, along with groundbreaking research into learning in other cultures, reveal a pattern of startling transformation: none of these countries had many smart kids a few decades ago. Things had changed. Teaching had become more rigorous; parents had focused on things that mattered; and children had bought into the promise of education.

Reviews

[Ripley] gets well beneath the glossy surfaces of these foreign cultures and manages to make our own culture look newly strangeThe question is whether the startling perspective provided by this masterly book can also generate the will to make changes. * New York Times Book Review *
Compelling . . . What is Poland doing right And what is America doing wrong Amanda Ripley, an American journalist, seeks to answer such questions in The Smartest Kids in the World, her fine new book about the schools that are working around the globe .Ms. Ripley packs a startling amount of insight in this slim book. * The Economist *
[T]he most illuminating reporting I have ever seen on the differences between schools in America and abroad. * Jay Mathews, education columnist, The Washington Post *
[The Smartest Kids in the World is] a riveting new book.Ripleys policy recommendations are sensible and strong.The American school reform debate has been desperately in need of such no-nonsense advice, which firmly puts matters of intellect back at the center of education where they belong. * The Daily Beast *
The Smartest Kids in the World should be on the back-to-school reading list of every parent, educator and policymaker interested in understanding why students in other countries outperform U.S. students on international tests. -- US News & World Report
Gripping.Ripley's characters are fascinating, her writing style is accessible, and her observations are fresh.If you're interested in how to improve public schools, read Ripley's book today. -- The Huffington Post
In riveting prose...this timely and inspiring book offers many insights into how to improve Americas mediocre school system. -- Publishers Weekly, starred review
"If you care about education, you must read this book. By recounting what three intrepid kids learned from the rest of the world, it shows what we can learn about how to fix our schools. Ripley's delightful storytelling has produced insights that are both useful and inspiring." -- Walter Isaacson, author of Steve Jobs and Benjamin Franklin
This book gives me hope that we can create education systems of equity and rigorif we heed the lessons from top performing countries and focus more on preparing teachers than on punishing them." -- Randi Weingarten, President, American Federation of Teachers
This is a no-nonsense, no-excuses book about how we can improve outcomes for all kids, from the poorest to the wealthiest. It avoids platitudes and ideology and relies instead on the experiences of students. -- Joel Klein, CEO, Amplify, and former chancellor, New York Department of Education
Amanda Ripley observes with rare objectivity and depth. She finds a real and complex world over thereschools with flaws of their own but also real and tangible lessons about how to do better by our kids. The Smartest Kids in the World gave me more insights, as a parent and as an educator, than just about anything else Ive read in a while. -- Doug Lemov, author of Teach Like a Champion
Such an important book! Amanda Ripley lights the path to engaging our next generation to meet a different bar. She makes an enormous contribution to the national and global discussion about what must be done to give all our children the education they need to invent the future. -- Wendy Kopp, founder and chair, Teach For America, and CEO, Teach For All
"The Smartest Kids in the World is a must read for anyone concerned about the state of American public education. By drawing on experiences, successes, and failures in education systems in the highest-performing countries across the globe, Amanda Ripley lays out a course for what we must do to dramatically improve our nation's schools. -- Michelle Rhee, Founder and CEO of StudentsFirst
Ripleys stirring investigation debunks many tenets of current education reform. -- BookPage
In lively, accessible prose.Ripleys book looks at the data from a new perspective. Those stunned parents and teachers in New York State and elsewhere would do well to read this book first if they are inclined to blame their childrens/students poor results on a new test. -- OECD Education Today Blog
[Ripley] is a compelling storyteller who deftly plaits humorous anecdotes and hard data to whip you in the face with her findings. -- Kristen Levithan * Brain, Child Magazine *
Ripleys evaluation of education in a changing world is revealing and thought-provoking. * Rocky Mountain Telegram *
A good read . . . . If you want to understand what goes on in other countries education systems, read [The Smartest Kids in the World]. * Coshocton Tribune *

Author Bio

Amanda Ripley is the New York Times bestselling author of The Smartest Kids in the World, High Conflict, and The Unthinkable. She writes for The Atlantic, Politico, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal, among other publications.