Contrary to what many people assume, writes Stewart, a high-quality teacher workforce is not the simple result of some traditional cultural respect for teachers that exists in some countries. Rather, it requires deliberate policy choices. In a tour of seven countries that traditionally score high on international tests of student performance…

To help principals and department heads in their mentoring role, the Singapore Ministry of Education developed a computer system for classroom observation named SOCRATES. The system requires no coding, continuously records entire lessons, compiles data useful for sequential analysis, and allows teachers and principals to identify strengths and…