An education expert who helped guide Maryland’s Kirwan Commission urges new thinking to compete globally in public education.

An article on the website EducationDive highlights Marc Tucker, president and CEO emeritus of the National Center on Education and Economy, emphasizing new thinking for American schools to compete globally. Tucker has been a principal advisor to Maryland’s Kirwan Commission, recommending bold transformations in the funding for public schools.

From the article:

“The challenge is not to manage well the system you have,” he said. “It is to design a much better system and implement it where you are.”

Tucker presented data points that reinforce why NCEE’s research team has been examining other high-performing systems for guidance on how states and districts can approach redesign. In 10 countries, for example, the average student graduates at least two years earlier than the average U.S. high school student. And students in more than 30 countries outperform U.S. students in math, he said, adding that the U.S. system is still built for a “smokestack economy.”

For more detail on Tucker’s analysis, and his upcoming book, visit the National Center on Education and Economy website.