comparing and contrasting countries

I realize that Linda Darling-Hammond shared quite a few ideas on what Finland, Japan and Korea are doing differently than the United States in the area of education. I think that it is very interesting to look at who is doing what, especially if they are scoring higher on the PISA then we are. Although I do think that there are many ideas that we can take and tweak slightly to make our own,  I also think that there are more variables that should be examined then what was discussed in the book.
One difference, that was really not addressed, between the United States and the other countries that Darling-Hammond examined is the population and geographical size. I could be wrong, but it seems like both of those would definitely be a factor in trying to duplicate one any of the smaller countries has done. Another, and I believe more important, factor is how relatively new each of these countries major education reforms have been. In Korea, getting the opportunity to get an education is so new and exciting. While in both Finland and Japan, this new reform, which allows more students the opportunity to go to school longer, is only a few decades old. In contrast, our education system in the United States, is quite a bit older. (unless we are just talking about desegregation) Sometimes it feels in the United States that the opportunity to go to school is taken for granted. Perhaps because most citizens have no memory here, of not having the opportunity to go. I don't know how we could completely examine these other factors when comparing the United States to other countries, but I think that they must be considered before being able to make a true comparison of our educational system versus the system in other countries.
I did find some similarities between the educational systems in Finland, Japan, and Korea that I found very interesting. I think the most interesting one was the decentralizing of curriculum and assessments. All three countries had switched to allowing individual schools autonomy in how they taught to the standards, many of the assessments they gave, and how to reach at risk students. I think that is an idea that would be effective in the United States, especially considering other factors like country size, and complacency of students. Even in a small district, there can be such a difference in the student body population. I think each school could be so much more effective, if they could adapt to meet that population. I also think that teachers would feel so much more appreciated and valued if they were empowered in that way. We know our students better than the state or the federal government, and yet we have little to no voice in what our students need in order to learn.  I hope that we can take some of the ideas that have been proven to work in these other countries and use them here.
Kathy McGrath