Argues that the education system in America needs to make drastic changes in order to build a system of high-achieving and equitable schools that protects every child's right to learn.

Explores globalization, its opportunities for individual empowerment, its achievements at lifting millions out of poverty, and its drawbacks--environmental, social, and political.

This book will help school systems improve their teacher workforce by drawing important lessons from nations with high-performing educational systems, as well as from successful state experiments in the United States. The authors examine common features and differences in the approaches of high-performing systems that made education a top priority and developed high-leverage strategies to meet their goals. Their varied solutions offer valuable ideas for how to create a strong teacher and school administrator ccorps from recruitment and preparation through induction, professional development, evaluation, and career advancement into leadership roles. Chapters focusing on systems in Finland, Ontario, and Singapore are coauthored by local scholars with extensive knowledge of the history and current status for policy and practice in their nation. A final chapter highlights attributes that are absolutely necessary for any education system to flourish. The book will be useful to policymakers, practitioners, and researchers interested in strengthening the quality of teaching.

“This is essential reading for anyone seeking to compete–and succeed–in the fl at world.” –John Hagel, Chairman of Deloitte Center of Innovation “Competing in a Flat World provides an extraordinary glimpse into a new kind of organizational architecture, one built around the notion of orchestrating resources you don’t control and doing so in a way that builds both trust and agility. This architecture may well turn out to be the dominant model of the firm for the 21st century. This book is a must read for anyone who wants to compete in a flat world. Every chapter details new and powerful ideas.” –John Seely Brown, Former Chief Scientist of Xerox Corporation and coauthor of The Only Sustainable Edge “We are led by unstoppable economic forces to connect our resources to form smart networks, either wired or unwired. The authors bring forward the notion of ‘network orchestration,’ an almost one-size-fits-all strategy for organizations to survive and excel in an ever-flattening world.” –John Chen, Sybase Chairman, CEO and President In the “flat world,” everything changes...above all, what it takes to run a winning company. Success is less about what the company can do itself and more about what it can connect to. Find out how it’s done, from the company that pioneered “flat world” success, Li & Fung, which produces more than $8 billion in garments and other goods for the world’s top brands and retailers–without owning a single factory. Victor and William Fung and Jerry Wind, author of the best-selling The Power of Impossible Thinking, reveal how they’ve replaced “old-fashioned” infrastructure and huge employee bases with a fluid, ever-changing network that can design, manufacture, and deliver almost anything, anywhere. The key to success in this world is a set of principles for “network orchestration,” described for the first time in this book. They examine how these principles can be applied in manufacturing, services and other industries. They show how to build and orchestrate your own world-class global network. * Compete “network vs. network”–and win! * Create a “big-small” company that combines scale and agility * Forge loose-tight relationships with suppliers * Balance control with empowerment, stability with renewal * Manage the “bumps” in the flat world–from politics to terrorism Visit the authors' website: www.competinginaflatworld.net