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Resource International Education Study Group 2020-2022

Updated December 05, 2022
Related Topic: Education

In July 2020, NCSL, the National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE) and the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) launched the 2020-2021 cohort of the Legislative International Education Study Group. This bipartisan group of 20 legislators and legislative staff embarked on a two-year study of the highest-performing education systems to glean lessons that might be applied in our own states to improve our state education systems.

They discussed their work during NCSL’s 2022 Legislative Summit and released their findings in a report, The Time is Now: Reimagining World-Class State Education Systems. Here they urge their colleagues to leverage the pandemic’s disruption and reimagine and rebuild an education system that better meets learning outcomes for all students and meets our future workforce needs.

The report describes their adoption of NCEE’s Blueprint for a High-Performing Education System as a policy framework to improve state education systems, focused common elements found in the most effective systems: 

  • Effective Teachers and Principals
  • Rigorous and Adaptive Learning System
  • Equitable Foundation of Supports
  • Coherent and Aligned Governance

This study builds on findings of the first cohort of 26 legislators and legislative staff. They  released their seminal report in 2016, No Time to Lose: How to Build a World-Class Education System State by State. Maryland is now implementing a new blueprint based on the recommendation.

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Cohort Members

Study Group Member Statement

We, the members of the Legislative International Education Study Group, recognize that our work is particularly relevant in the time of a global pandemic. The pandemic’s profound disruption of education—including the challenges of distance learning that schools, students and families faced—exacerbated persistent inequities in the system and created a new urgency for systemic reform.  

The pandemic also changed the workforce, accelerating the use of artificial intelligence and automation. This will require a new level of skill for students, better coordination between parts of the education system and opportunities for lifelong learning.  

We know many parents, teachers and students are exhausted after three years of disrupted learning, eager for normalcy and sick of calls for further change. Students and teachers are working very hard to recover. But they are working in broken systems that are no longer designed for success, and we cannot continue ignore this difficult reality. Silver bullets and siloed policies will not fix this.  Instead, we must reimagine and rebuild for success based on policies and practices that work. 

Our job as legislators is to work with other policymakers and align resources to create a world-class state statutory framework. Our mission as education policymakers is to ensure that every teacher and student can do their best work in a world-class system that supports them to thrive now and in the future. With the right tools, mindset and collaborative spirit, we can accomplish this goal. 

THE TIME IS NOW to reimagine and rebuild an education system that meets our current challenges and workforce needs. We must seize this opportunity to create a better tomorrow for every child. 

Participants

  • Rep. Andi Story, Alaska
  • Rep. Terri Collins, Alabama
  • Dustin Jones, Alabama
  • Rep. Justin Woodson, Hawaii
  • Sen. Max Wise, Kentucky
  • Joe Burks, Kentucky
  • Lisa Lovello, Louisiana
  • Rep. Jim Davnie, Minnesota
  • Porscha Miner, Mississippi
  • Rep. Llew Jones, Montana
  • Rep. Graig Meyer, North Carolina
  • Rep. Mary Heath, New Hampshire
  • Jennifer Foor, New Hampshire
  • Rep. G. Andres Romero, New Mexico
  • Jessica Hathaway, New Mexico
  • Sen. Marilyn Dondero Loop, Nevada
  • Sen. Ryan Aument, Pennsylvania
  • Stephanie Buchanan, Pennsylvania
  • Pierce McNair, South Carolina
  • Delegate Schuyler VanValkenburg, Virginia

Introductory Resources on International Comparisons

NCEE’s The Design of High-Performing Education Systems: A Framework for Policy and Practice

NCEE’s How Did the World's Highest Performing Education Systems Approach Distance Learning?

No Time to Lose: How to Build a World-Class Education System State by State

Video of 2019 NCSL Summit Session Highlighting State Actions by International Study Group Members

SREB’s Unprepared and Unaware: Upskilling the Workforce for a Decade of Uncertainty 

The SREB Region’s Economic Outlook: The Potential Impact of Automation and AI

Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development

Coherent and Aligned Governance

Rigorous and Adaptive Learning Systems

NCEE:

SREB:

Robert Schwartz

SREB

State of Indiana

Effective Teachers and Principals

NCEE's Empowered Educators Policy Briefs

International Jurisdictions

British Columbia

Estonia

Finland

Singapore

Experts and Faculty

Experts and Faculty

  • Eve Eisenschmidt, professor of educational leadership, Tallinn University, Estonia
  • Geoff Masters, chief executive officer, Australian Council on Educational Research
  • Kai-ming Cheng, professor emeritus, University of Hong Kong
  • David Ng, head of academic quality, National Institute of Education, Singapore
  • Scott MacDonald, deputy minister of education, British Columbia
  • Vivien Stewart, senior advisor for education, Asia Society
  • Rachel Hise, principal policy analyst, Maryland Department of Legislative Services
  • Dr. Eve Eisenschmidt, professor of educational leadership, Tallinn University
  • Dr. Kristiina Kumpulainen, professor of education, University of Helsinki 
  • Keith Godin, assistant deputy minister of education, British Columbia
  • Dr. Chew Leng Poon, divisional director, research and management information, Singapore Ministry of Education
  • Robert Schwartz, professor at Harvard University and co-founder of the Pathways to Prosperity network
  • Dr. Sharon Lynn Kagan, Virginia and Leonard Marx Professor of Early Childhood and Family Policy and Co-Director of the National Center for Children and Families
  • Caitlin Dermody, research assistant, National Center for Children & Families
  • Scott Marion, executive director, Center for Assessment
  • Marc Tucker, retired founding president and senior fellow, NCEE
  • Ben Boggs, former KY legislative staff and current chief of staff to the CO Commissioner for Higher Education
  • State Representative Sharon Tomiko Santos, Washington

Study Group Staff and Contributors

  • Gretchen Cheney, Senior Policy Analyst, NCEE 
  • Jason Dougal, President and COO, NCEE 
  • Nathan Driskell, Associate Director, Policy Analysis and Development, NCEE 
  • Jackie Kraemer, Director of Policy Analysis and Development, NCEE 
  • Anthony Mackay, Board of Trustees Co-Chair, NCEE 
  • Lee Posey, Vice President of State Strategies, SREB 
  • Stephen Pruitt, President, SREB 
  • Michelle Exstrom, Director of Education, NCSL 
  • Emily Ronco, Policy Associate, NCSL 
  • Marilyn Villalobos, Policy Specialist, NCSL 

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