U.S. Education Reporter Visits Jordanian Schools

Amman, Jordan

Editor’s Note: Education Week Assistant Editor Mary Ann Zehr is on assignment in Jordan to report on the education system of this strategically located country in the Middle East. During her two-week visit, which began April 1, she will also be filing occasional reports for edweek.org.

I expected the air to be dry and hot, Jordanian women's Islamic dress to be drab, and school administrators to be polite but distant when I arrived in this Middle Eastern country to write about school reform.

The opposite has been true on...