Ms.

Amanda Ripley

March 12th, 2021

Dear Ms. Ripley,

Let me begin by sharing how much I enjoyed your book, “The Smartest Kids in the World”.

Your book has encouraged me to think deeper about educational systems across the globe- not

just in America. In the book, you exposed how much we can truly learn from the others around

us if we allow ourselves to. Through the personal stories told in the book I, as a reader, could

feel as if I was learning along with Kim, Tom, and Eric. As these students traveled across the

globe to experience different educational systems something astounding was revealed to me-

every country the students visited had not always been successful educationally.

A common theme among the schools in Poland, Finland, and South Korea is their high

expectations. These high expectations are not only for the students but also for teachers. One

example of this is how selective teacher’s colleges are in Finland. The main problem that we

have in the United States is how underpaid and underappreciated teachers are. Being a teacher

needs to be just as prestigious as being a doctor because millions of children’s educational

experiences are on the line. I feel that these high expectations play a fundamental role in the

success of Poland, Finland, and South Korea’s education systems.

While South Korean education can seem exasperating and unfair to the students, I can see why

South Korea was included in this book. I believe it has to do with academic achievement being

a high cultural value among all. For example, when it is time for students to take the end high
school standardized test, they will study from 8:00 in the morning until 9:00 at night. Except

the students aren’t the only ones who value these tests. The stock market even opens later

these days so there isn’t any traffic out of respect for the students on test day. Even though

South Korea is extremely hard on students, the values they have toward education for their

children is something I wish we had here in the United States. We simply don’t value the

importance of education and that makes all the difference between an academically rigorous

county versus a country that’s struggling to get students to read academically.

Quite frankly, before reading your book, I wouldn’t have been able to hold a conversation

about different educational systems across the world. After reading, I feel that I have a grasp

on the idea that we (Americans) can learn a lot by looking at the places around us and their

educational systems. I think the most profound lesson I learned was that there’s more than one

way to do things, that not every way is perfect, and there is always something to be learned by

observing.

Warm Regards,

Kara Blevins