After-school learning, summer learning, and family involvement in learning are major predictors of children's development, educational achievement, and school success. The United States will not achieve its national goals of equal educational opportunity without addressing the importance of and inequities in out-of-school learning opportunities.…

American education must prepare students for a world where the opportunities for success require the ability to compete and cooperate on a global scale. The federal government has played a critical role in fostering foreign language and area studies expertise at the post-secondary level. Now is the time for the federal government to engage in a…

American charter schools feature a dual reform strategy that combines state-initiated reform with local flexibility. In Britain, as in the U.S., charter school reform has been accompanied by centralized curriculum and student-assessment policies and decentralized implementation strategizing. Policymakers and practitioners must collaborate to…

Because German public schools historically have had a much narrower mission than American schools, comparing the two educational systems is difficult. German schools also differ structurally and in the ways they group students and treat student and teacher responsibilities. Community and business responsibilities are greater. (MLH)

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, the 2001 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, has become a symbol of all things good and bad in education. While the basic concepts of the legislation--accountability for results, research-based education programs, increased parental options, and expanded local control and…

U.S. working mothers wrestle daily with a child-care crisis characterized by unavailable infant care, high costs, and inadequate access and regulation. In Denmark, high-quality child care is a guaranteed entitlement for every child. Other benefits include paid parental leaves, single-parent allowances, housing subsidies, and universal health care.…

Despite touted "best" scores, Singapore's education ministry goals are child-centered. A worldwide survey of 182 experts reached consensus on 20 global trends, including need for a multinational curriculum. A Center of Education Policy report finds that highly subsidized foreign private schools are subject to high regulation. (MLH)