Book Review A World Class Education

A World Class Education: Learning from International Models of Excellence and Innovation

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• Authors: Vivien Stewart
• Length: 191 pages
• Intent/Focus: Identifies the best practices that will prepare students everywhere to compete and cooperate. 
• What You Will Learn: That educators should prepare students to innovate, cooperate, and succeed using the full global body of evidence.
• Why I Recommend It: While the reader will certainly not always agree with every position espoused by Stewart, her reflections are stimulating and worth the purchase price of the book.
• Summary: In her book, Stewart does not assign blame; rather, she builds a strong case that the global context has changed. Her pithy but robust research shows that the necessity of innovation skills and global literacy is leading a significant shift in the global talent pool that will have clear economic consequences in the years to come. Educators will benefit from the thoughtful assessment of international education trends in the Globalization and Education chapter. The chapter provides a research-informed overview of the current global trends impacting education. Other chapters in the book present well-argued philosophical positions on items ranging from evaluation to professional development, including very practical and thoughtful insight on the standards movement, trends impacting global knowledge economies and proper assessment strategy.