I recently listed to a 15-minute interview with Yong Zhao. The (audio) interview is available at http://bcove.me/3ftbh7c0. The interview presents powerful and well reasoned ideas on how to improve our educational system. I strongly recommend that you listen to the interview ad/or read Yong’s book:

Zhao, Yong (2009).  Catching Up or Leading the Way: American Education in the Age of Globalization Availability. ASCD.  

Here is a brief introduction to the book, quoted from the ASCD site http://shop.ascd.org/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductId=1095&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 U.S. 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.

I particularly liked his comments about our misguided over emphasis on math and reading test scores, and our weakness in providing students with a global education.

Zhao is now on the faculty at the University of Oregon (where I taught for many many years). He is a remarkable educational leader.