U.S. schools command the world's envy for forging common bonds, but fall short in fostering in children a sense of respect for education. In most other countries, being educated means behaving civilly, not finishing school. American children blame their lack of interest on the school or teacher. Parents should teach children to say "thank…

Holland says comparing public and Catholic schools is pointless, since they have different values, financing, admission practices, and political realities. Paserba and Bennett, two Catholic superintendents, disagree with Holland, citing similarities in negotiating labor contracts, serving special-needs children, satisfying accreditation…

The Soviet Union's planned development of Russia resulted in a high degree of forced uniformity in schools that has dampened students' curiosity and teachers' enthusiasm for improving education. Russia would like to emulate some well-developed U.S. practices, including K-12 testing systems, guidance counseling, student-motivation strategies,…

Teachers deceive children when they concentrate on making them feel good regardless of their levels of accomplishment. Studies show great discrepancies between U.S. students' comparatively low academic performance and their "above-average" self-evaluations in mathematics. Deprived of appropriate standards, children could later face harsher critics…

Because educators have unrealistic expectations about tests, they use them inappropriately and draw inaccurate conclusions from results. This article debunks five myths about test-score comparisons: valid measurement of school quality; declining international competitiveness; "fixing" schools with more tests; development of new, improved…

Schools have been criticized perennially for their profligate waste of taxpayer money. Currently, there are two separate myths about schools and money: the United States spends more than any other country; and money doesn't matter. U.S. schools have many nonteaching school employees because they provide services that other nations do not. (MLH)

Catholic schools share five organizational characteristics that account for their unusual effectiveness. Catholic schools offer and require a core academic curriculum for all students, are embedded within a larger communal structure, are small enough to promote community, have decentralized governance, and have an inspirational ideology reflecting…

Using research findings and statistics to support a policy argument often leads to misinterpretations and exaggerations of public school performance. Two experts illustrate this point by discussing examples of distorted high school drop-out rates, student performance on standardized tests, and international comparisons of U.S. and Japanese…

Introduction of national curriculum in 1988 has required British elementary teachers to teach and assess range of subjects with little specialist assistance and virtually no planning time during the school day. Compared to one New Hampshire school, English schools lack assistance for special needs students and have less extensive parental…

U.S. and British school leaders are preoccupied with many of the same issues, including the curriculum and its assessment, the reporting of pupil achievement and use of raw scores, site-based management, parental choice as a quality lever, small schools, the school board's role, and different approaches to quality improvement. Overemphasis of…

Japanese school management should consider more broad-based, active participation in school board policymaking and should democratize school board-school relationships by adopting the lay-control principle. Both U.S. and Japanese schools should improve the exercise of appropriate administrator leadership. Japanese schools are evaluated on a…