The Japanese are setting new achievement standards for their competitive American peers; meanwhile, Japanese students in American schools are learning to be more creative and assertive. Teachers adjust their instruction to make the classroom more comfortable for Japanese students raised on rote learning. A sidebar describes five elementary school…

By adding courses in math, science, English, foreign languages, and geography to their admission standards, colleges and universities in many states are fostering further fragmentation of high school curricula and forcing some schools to add class periods or short-change vocational, music, and art students. Michigan, Oregon, Colorado, and New York…