Catching Up or Leading the Way: American Education in the Age of Globalization

This remarkable book will forever change the debate about what's wrong and what's right with American education and where it should be going. Based on his own experience as a student in China and as a parent of children attending school in the United States, Zhao skewers conventional wisdom while setting straight the recent history and current state of U.S. schools. To make his case, Zhao explains:

Why the perceived weaknesses of American education are actually its strengths.

How reform proponents, business executives, and politicians have misjudged American education.

Why China and other nations in Asia are actually reforming their systems to be more like their American counterparts.

What really matters for an education system and what really counts as educational excellence.

With an extraordinary command of facts and thought leadership, Zhao describes how schoools have to keep pace with a world that is being dramatically transformed by globalization.