18569 Crown Stone Rd

Marydel, MD 21649
443-994-2465
T.phebus@aol.com

March 15, 2023

Bright Sight Group

139 Wall St.
Princeton, NJ 08540

Dear Ms. Ripley,

Hello, How are you? I hope this letter finds you well. I am writing to you as a student of
Chesapeake College on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. I am studying to be an elementary school teacher.
I am currently enrolled in the class Nature of Knowledge based on education. The class explores global
education and the way knowledge is acquired in different disciplines, cultures, and times. Our class
recently was assigned to read your book, The Smartest Kids in the World: And How They Got That Way. I
am glad to have the opportunity to read your book. Before reading this I did not have much intel on
schooling in other countries. Through your experiences and writing I was able to see the problem with
education in the United States and at the same time be given hope in the possibility of change.

The United States as a whole does not value learning enough. The United States and its education
system is simply stagnant and average. Who wants to be average? We as a country can do better. The
significant changes and value placed on education in Finland, Korea, and Poland as discussed in your
book are astounding. When I read about Finland’s teachers and teaching being prestigious, I was left
wanting. I want this for our country. Teachers with rigorous training. Teachers with prestigious
mentorships. Teachers salary and value like that of doctors and lawyers. This was a key point for me. I
feel we can not have highly educated students unless we have highly educated teachers. Our United States
students will only be as good as our United States teachers. I have been in many leadership positions in
my career and this really stands to be an important point. Your trainee can only be as good as the trainer.
We can not expect great results if we don't have great teachers. Then in Korea. The pressure cooker of
education. Your insight here and the everyday documentation reported by Eric was kind of scary to me.
The children pretty much live, eat and breathe education and learning. The kind of drive in Korea was
wow! There is no wonder the students here do well. I personally do not think this model would work well
in the United States. I think we are too far opposite of this model. Aspects of this would possibly work
such as sports being separate from school or afterschool programs available but not mandatory. I feel
Korea goes overboard but if it is working for them, why change it. Tom’s discoveries in Poland were
astounding as well. The changes Poland has made to get to where they are today in education give me
hope for the United States. Poland moving from the bottom in education to the top is amazing. Using a
new curriculum, new tests, and new teacher self-governing made a huge difference in their system.

Your book was encouraging to me. The United States may not value learning enough as a whole.
The United States may not value teachers and their career as being prestigious. Parent involvement in our
schools may not be what we need. We may spend way too much on technology with no evidence that this
makes a difference in results, but your book tells a story of hope and insight into a possibility of change.
We can learn from these other countries. We can talk to our students. We can make teaching prestigious.
We can get parents involved in learning. We can separate sports from school. We can change. This is all
possible.

Thank you! Thank you for taking the time to research this. I appreciate the time and effort you put
into this book. I enjoyed the student point of view and seeing the story beyond the data. I see where we
are as a country and what we can do to be better. Thank you for revealing what these countries are doing
that works. Thank you for giving your readers food for thought to get to where we need to go in
education. Thank you for giving me the hope of a future in education that puts the United States at
number one. Your hard work into this endeavor is appreciated by this reader. Thanks again. Best wishes to
you in your future endeavors.

Sincerely,

Terry Phebus