Australia

Four of the five top education nations in the PISA 2009 study come from East Asia – Shanghai, Hong Kong, Korea, and Singapore.  (Finland ranked third in the study.)  In order to draw lessons for Australia, this report from the Grattan Institute found that it was neither cultural factors (Confucianism, Tiger Mums, rote learning) nor the amount of budget that contributed to educational success.  Instead, the report suggests that these countries implemented ideas and levers that are known to be effective for system improvement (e.g. focus on effective student learning, a strong culture of teacher education, collaboration, mentoring, feedback, and sustained professional development).