The Bigger Picture

U.S. Education in a Global Context

By Iris C. Rotberg

As the debate over the Bush administration’s education policies continues in the president’s second term, I am frequently asked whether the educational problems we face, and our attempted “solutions” to those problems, are unique to the United States, or if we are simply participants in trends that are taking place worldwide. My comments below, which attempt to address these questions, are based on a recent book I edited on education reform in 16 countries.

Do other countries face problems similar to those in the United States?

Yes. The overwhelming problem is the achievement gap between poor children and their more affluent peers. The size of the gap varies, but its existence is universal. Although education reforms are also triggered by other concerns—global competition, cumbersome bureaucracies, or rigid instructional and testing practices—the central problem in most counties is an achievement gap that is closely associated...