Federal Blog

Top Performers

Marc Tucker was president of the National Center on Education and the Economy. For two decades, his research focused on the policies and practices of the countries with the best education systems. This blog is no longer being updated.

Teaching Profession Opinion What American Education Can Learn from Top Performers on Teacher Quality
Marc Tucker discusses the release of Linda Darling-Hammond's NCEE-supported international comparative study of teaching quality systems, Empowered Educators.
Marc Tucker, April 27, 2017
9 min read
Classroom Technology Opinion How the Mind Works: Reflections Prompted by Steven Pinker
Marc Tucker asks some tough questions about the rise of intelligent machines and the impact it will have on the future of education, work and life in general.
Marc Tucker, April 20, 2017
5 min read
School Choice & Charters Opinion The School Choice Debate
Marc Tucker surveys the domestic and international evidence regarding school choice, including charter schools, and what it means for building high-achieving, equitable school systems.
Marc Tucker, April 13, 2017
7 min read
School Choice & Charters Opinion The Netherlands: Top-Performing School System Looking to Get Better
Marc Tucker speaks with Dutch State Secretary for Education, Culture and Science Sander Dekker about the Netherlands' unique system of school choice and where it's headed.
Marc Tucker, April 6, 2017
9 min read
College & Workforce Readiness Opinion Accountability, College & Career Readiness: Is This the Best We Can Do?
Marc Tucker reviews a new report from the Council of Chief State School Officers on accountability and college and career readiness and argues that policy makers should reach higher.
Marc Tucker, March 29, 2017
10 min read
School & District Management Opinion The Trump Budget's Assault on Reason
President Trump's proposed budget is an attack on what actually makes America great—our commitment to rational inquiry, openness and educating all of our citizens—argues Marc Tucker.
Marc Tucker, March 23, 2017
7 min read
College & Workforce Readiness Opinion How to Prepare Your Students for College and Work
Marc Tucker shows how top performers use qualifications systems to ensure that students are college- and career-ready and what the U.S. can learn from it.
Marc Tucker, March 16, 2017
10 min read
College & Workforce Readiness Opinion Decision Memo to State Leaders: How to (or Not to) Compete in the Global Economy
Marc Tucker presents a simple choice for governors—pursue an education and economic agenda centered on building a highly skilled workforce or allow your state to slip further behind in the global economy.
Marc Tucker, March 9, 2017
10 min read
College & Workforce Readiness Opinion Political Parties Go After the Working Class, But Are They Serious?
With a populist wave reshaping the American political landscape as we know it, Marc Tucker makes an appeal for bold leadership that doesn't shy away from hard truths about the future of work and education.
Marc Tucker, March 2, 2017
8 min read
College & Workforce Readiness Opinion The Global Search for Education: A Conversation With Cathy (C.M.) Rubin
Cathy (C.M.) Rubin and Marc Tucker engage in a wide-ranging discussion on the skills our students need to compete in today's globalized economy.
Marc Tucker, February 23, 2017
8 min read
Equity & Diversity Opinion Education Alone Won't Solve Poverty, Social Isolation, and Resentment
Education is not a silver bullet solution to addressing the consequences of globalization and automation, writes Marc Tucker.
Marc Tucker, February 16, 2017
8 min read
Education Funding Opinion Trump's People: Understanding Thy Neighbor
Marc Tucker seeks to better understand supporters of President Trump and explores the experience of those who have lost out in a globalizing economy.
Marc Tucker, February 9, 2017
10 min read
Education Opinion The New Zealand Way: An Interview With Minister of Education Hekia Parata
Marc Tucker discusses how New Zealand reached the ranks of the world's top-performing education system with the country's Minister of Education, Hekia Parata.
Marc Tucker, February 2, 2017
11 min read
School Choice & Charters Opinion Choice, Vouchers and the Trump Education Agenda
Marc Tucker looks at what the world's top performers tell us about the school choice agenda likely to be pursued by President Trump and his Education Secretary nominee Betsy DeVos.
Marc Tucker, January 26, 2017
8 min read