The Smartest Kids in the World

And How They Got That Way

By: Amanda Ripley

Narrated by: Kate Reading

Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

How do other countries create "smarter" kids? In a handful of nations, virtually all children are learning to make complex arguments and solve problems they've never seen before. They are learning to think, in other words, and to thrive in the modern economy.What is it like to be a child in the world's new education superpowers?

In a global quest to find answers for our own children, author and Time magazine journalist Amanda Ripley follows three Americans embed­ded in these countries for one year. Kim, 15, raises $10,000 so she can move from Oklahoma to Finland; Eric, 18, exchanges a high-achieving Minnesota suburb for a booming city in South Korea; and Tom, 17, leaves a historic Pennsylvania village for Poland.

Through these young informants, Ripley meets battle-scarred reformers, sleep-deprived zombie students, and a teacher who earns $4 million a year. Their stories, along with groundbreaking research into learning in other cultures, reveal a pattern of startling transformation: none of these countries had many "smart" kids a few decades ago. Things had changed. Teaching had become more rigorous; parents had focused on things that mattered; and children had bought into the promise of education.

A journalistic tour de force, The Smartest Kids in the World is a book about building resilience in a new world-as told by the young Americans who have the most at stake.

©2013 Amanda Ripley (P)2013 Tantor

Critic reviews

"A compelling, instructive account regarding education in America, where the arguments have become 'so nasty, provincial, and redundant that they no longer lead anywhere worth going.'" ( Kirkus)

good info

The book was very interesting. It informs about school systems in the US and in other countries. It tells stories of exchange students and their perspectives. It explained what I should look for when choosing a school for my child, which I going very helpful. The narrator was good too.

Skimmed the surface

This was an interesting listen; however, I left feeling a bit unsatisfied. Ms. Ripley investigated the 3 educational Super Powers and our own system, then followed 3 students who were studying abroad to said super powers in order to investigate their systems and ultimately answer questions about the shortfalls of the US educational system. Lofty, right?

While the book definitely offered some conclusions, it fell short on really delving into the experiences of the children, explained a lot without offering opportunities for change, and I don't think I have a great handle on *how* to find *my* children better education (which was why I selected it).

Some pretty cool facts were offered, which will definitely guide my decision making process in the future (READ TO YOUR KIDS! SEEK VIGOR! NEVER ENROLL YOUR KIDS IN KOREAN SCHOOLS!), but I feel as though she either needed to make the book much longer to fully flush out the components, follow only 1 country, or not try so hard to invest us in the Americans abroad b/c their stories just kind of dropped off...

The narrator did a nice job of a difficult job, considering the accent demands. She managed to add subtle, non-offensive, inflections when necessary and maintained a nice pace.

quality review of education systems

the author does a great job of providing detailed reviews of various educational systems around the world. I appreciated that it felt even handed. There are some action items in the appendix.

Well researched

While I object to the use of the word “smartest” in the title, Ripley does a good scholarly analysis of variations in PISA results. I don’t agree with all of her conclusions based on the research but found her arguments interesting and thoughtful. The stories of actual students were fascinating. Great read!

Interesting but disjointed bunch of stories

This reads like a bunch of newspaper articles by a good journalist. Memorable real stories, not a bunch of opinions.

Well read, good info on U.S. vs. other schools

What did you love best about The Smartest Kids in the World?

There was a lot of good information and I do think the author did some interesting research using exchange students to compare different learning experiences around the world in some of the higher scoring countries.

If you could give The Smartest Kids in the World a new subtitle, what would it be?

How can we improve our schools?

Excellent overview on US education

This book presents a US-centric view of how and why we are trending steadily downward in education, creating young adults who don't think as well as they would like. It made me realize this trend is not the fault of the teachers nor the students, but there is a lot we can do to affect positive change if we get involved in the right way. The book shows us the possibilities by looking closely at some other countries. I learned a lot. This book was journalistic and broad minded, as opposed to being heavy handed and forcing you to conclusions, and it is easy to stay focused with the audio version.

A blue print to the best education

As a parent if you want to know what makes an education great and where to get it, listen to this book. As the wife of an educator I truly wish my husbands’ talents were utilized elsewhere and not in the current, supposedly high ranking public school, he teaches at now. As a former educator this book inspires me to polish off my Spanish and find a rigorous school to join and practice methods of teaching that encourage students to learn, fail, and get better. I would love to work in a system where getting an “F” was encouraging and would push the actual student to work harder and get gritty. I loathe systems where that “F” means extra work for the teacher to get the student to pass and emails from angry parents. Awesome book! It would take a colossal shift in how America views education, but our country could get there if it wanted to. If it wanted to value a rigorous education more than the local high school sports program.

Great Research

Being a teacher myself, it is wonderful to come across such extensive work that has been done in the field, and shared. This book has helped me gain a deeper understanding of the learning game, and it has certainly provided confirmation for me that I can and should up my creative input for the benefit of my students.

Parents inspiration

If you are a high achiever parent (like myself), this book would reassure your believe. A good read for parents and educators.