“An outstanding example of comparative educational research. . . . Authors Akiba and LeTendre use a variety of methodologies and accompany their analyses with a set of systematic recommendations that are as timely as they are prescient. As a result, scholars of educational policy and practice, as well as policymakers, administrators, and teachers, will find this volume to be an indispensable contribution to ongoing national and international discussions of educational reform.”
—Irving Epstein, Associate Dean of the Faculty, Illinois Wesleyan University

This groundbreaking work examines teacher quality, work norms, and professional learning opportunities, using data from 15 countries. The authors compare and contrast the United States with two high-achieving countries—Japan and Australia—that have implemented very different approaches to improving teacher quality. Drawing on both large international data sets and ethnographic and small-scale studies, the book addresses critical questions:

• How do teacher quality and teacher recruitment and hiring policies in the United States differ from those in other countries?
• How do the working conditions of U.S. teachers differ from those of teachers in other countries?
• How do U.S. teachers’ opportunities for professional learning differ from those of teachers in other countries?
• How do the characteristics of the national teaching force influence student achievement?
• What U.S. policies offer promise for improving teacher quality?

Motoko Akiba is Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis at the University of Missouri–Columbia and a 2008 recipient of National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Award. Gerald LeTendre is Professor of Education and International Affairs and chair of the Educational Policy Studies Department at the Pennsylvania State University. He is currently acting editor of The American Journal of Education and serves on the editorial board for the Comparative Education Review.