Publication Date: April 17, 2015
Teaching in the Flat World 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 corps 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 of 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.
Linda Darling-Hammond is the Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education at Stanford University. Her books include Getting Teacher Evaluation Right and The Flat World and Education, which won the 2012 Grawemeyer Award in Education. Robert Rothman is senior fellow at the Alliance for Excellent Education in Washington, DC. He is the author of Something in Common: The Common Core Standards and the Next Chapter in American Education.
"In Teaching in the Flat World, Linda Darling-Hammond and Robert Rothman veer away from the one-shot, haphazard processes and tired, unimaginative policies such as the over reliance on high-stakes tests and other punitive approaches that have defined educational reform in the past two decades. The authors propose instead a stunningly simple idea: By searching globally, the United States can learn from nations that have been more successful in creating equitable systems that respect teachers and support students. Darling-Hammond and her co-authors propose a systemic and comprehensive approach to put flesh on the American dream of a high-quality, excellent education for students of all backgrounds. School systems, colleges of education, and policymakers can all learn from these approaches."
—Sonia Nieto, Professor Emerita, Language, Literacy and Culture, College of Education, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
"I do not believe that other nations have smarter students then we do. But it is clear that some nations have better systems of education than we do. This book is filled with ideas that will change that!"
—David Berliner, author of 50 Myths and Lies That Threaten America's Public Schools
"Teaching in the Flat World is without a doubt the best single collection you will find on the topic of improving the teaching profession. It's got everything, including six great lessons from successful systems that you will not want to miss."
— Michael Fullan, professor emeritus, OISE, University of Toronto
“Teachers remain the single-greatest hope for ensuring high-performing public schools. The lessons learned and shared by the authors of best practices from around the world are a powerful example for policymakers, leaders, and teachers of how to create and sustain high-achieving systems that empower our professionals in the classroom.”
—Richard A. Carranza, Superintendent of Schools, San Francisco Unified School District