Systematic pursuit of children's wellbeing and happiness in secure environments takes precedence over measured academic achievements in Finnish schools, according to Pasi Sahlberg, author of the award-winning book, Finnish Lessons: What Can the World Learn from Educational Change in Finland?

Are the new performance measures proposed by Michael Gove a solution to "teaching to a test," improving standards and the overall quality of learning for all students in the UK education system?

According to Andreas Schleicher of OECD, the United States is unique among countries in that the generation of workers entering the US workforce does not have higher college attainment levels than the generation about to leave the workforce.

Surely, no one would contend that educational results in Shanghai are representative of China as a whole, but the results do show what China can achieve if the conditions are right.

If education is to fulfill its essential role in America as the great equalizer, big achievement gaps and opportunity gaps must close -- and all students must receive a world-class education that genuinely prepares them for colleges and careers in the 21st century.

The United States places 17th in the developed world for education, according to a global report by education firm Pearson. Finland and South Korea...

Education should not be the privilege of a select few, but the basic civil right of every American child. We must act conclusively to narrow our domestic achievement gap and to narrow our international achievement gap so that our students will be able to compete globally in the next decade.

Tom Friedman has a new column about education in which he almost makes an important point about the state of K-12 schooling in America, and what we can do to improve it.

How do teachers motivate students in the Singapore school system? How do they level the playing field between rich and poor students? How do they handle behavioral problems? Are they obsessed with testing?

Our country is guilty of becoming increasingly apathetic about education. As a rule, teachers are grossly undervalued; their significance is continually diminished and their contributions go highly underrated.

A holistic approach brings together elements that support the development of a child who is healthy, knowledgeable, motivated, and engaged, seeking to ensure all that is required for successful life and preparation for society.

Forgetting curves demonstrate that memory retention declines exponentially over time, so the long American summer vacation takes a major toll on a student's ability to progress.

Andreas Schleicher weighs in on what the US and other nations can learn from some of the high performing education systems that are doing this.

When schooling starts for poor children at kindergarten or first grade they have already missed out on vital opportunities to develop skills needed to help them thrive academically, socially, physically and emotionally in their early years of learning.

How does Singapore view the importance of a world-class teaching profession? How has its government responded? What progress has been made to date? What are Singapore's next steps to advance the teaching profession in the 21st century?

The International Baccalaureate (the IB) continues to play an important role in changing the lives of students worldwide. Apart from PISA, it is the only test that measures the performance of students against their global peers.

Today, with the help of Kirsten Sivesind, and Principal Bjorn Bolstad, the faculty and students of the Ringstabekk Skole in Barum, a suburb of Oslo, we can gain education insights into how a model Norwegian public school is addressing skills needed in the 21st century.

The co-founders of BASIS Schools, Michael and Olga Block, aimed to offer the type of education students receive in the top performing education systems around the world; the type of education that would help American students compete in the global economy.

The impact of poverty is significant in the outcomes of children in America's education system. So what should we be doing to support the approximate 20 percent of U.S. school children who live in poverty?

If you thought you knew everything about the remarkable transformation of Finland's schools from mediocre to one of the top performing school systems in the world, think again.

Michael Fullan has been working to identify the right drivers for whole system education reform. His paper, "Choosing the Wrong Drivers for Whole System Reform," has stimulated considerable interest from educators around the world.

"On the face of it, the two systems are at least a century apart and may have nothing to learn from each other."

Governments need to invest in education. Better educated people are less likely to need unemployment benefits or welfare assistance, and pay more tax when they enter the job market.

This week in The Global Search for Education, Charles Ungerleider discusses our big picture questions and shares his views on how to nurture and support a successful education system.

Change is painful. Change takes time. Change is trial and error.