The Smartest Kids In The World: And How They Got That Way
46 pages • 1-hour read
Amanda RipleyThe Smartest Kids In The World: And How They Got That Way
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Themes
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of mental illness.
What Defines a Quality Education
Throughout The Smartest Kids in the World, Ripley continually asks one question: What makes an education system successful? She looks into various factors to find the answer, however complex it may be. Early on, she wonders whether “education is a function of culture” and explores whether major change can come from reforms in the United States (3), inspired by success in other countries. Ripley argues that quality education is defined by high expectations of teachers and students, equity (i.e., supporting those who fall behind), and a focus on critical thinking rather than rote learning. In countries like South Korea, Poland, and Finland, education is taken seriously by students, parents, and teachers alike.
Standardized testing is a controversial topic in studies of education. It is commonly used as one of the benchmarks of a quality education, as it creates clear goals and expectations that teachers and students can meet. In South Korea, for example, students take an all-encompassing graduation exam that determines university access and future careers. Finland has a similar exam that takes 50 hours and three weeks to complete. Aside from standardized tests for college-bound students like the SAT and ACT, the US system suffers from inconsistency across states and even across local districts in its high school testing standards. Standards differ across the board, and students are often trapped repeating the same content year after year, which leads to boredom and disengagement.
Ripley argues that along with making education a top priority, “[g]ood education depend[s] on execution” (18). Structure alone isn’t enough: When it comes to quality education, how it is carried out matters most. Quality education also depends on parental involvement. In the United States, parents volunteer and praise students often, but these activities have little to no effect on students’ scores. More effective forms of involvement include reading to children at a young age, discussing current events, and modeling curiosity by being a lifelong learner. This kind of involvement builds the foundation for a meaningful education.
By the end of the book, Ripley emphasizes that education should be treated with the seriousness it deserves: “Learning had become a currency, the kind that bought freedom. It wasn’t all that mattered in life, but it mattered more than ever” (193). It is becoming increasingly difficult to succeed with just a high school diploma, and it is nearly impossible without one; thus, education must be prioritized. Ripley’s research shows that a quality education is about empowering children to think, adapt, and lead, rather than to just absorb and reproduce information.
Rigor and the Drive to Learn
The Smartest Kids in the World explores how rigor and motivation drive student success. Rigor, in this context, refers to academic challenge and includes teaching that requires students to think deeply, solve problems, and persist through challenges. For rigor to work, it has to come from both the students and the system itself. The system must insist on high standards for educators, and those educators must believe in their students’ willingness and ability to learn. Ripley questions how rigor is applied and how its underlying purpose can shift: “Were Korean girls and boys driven to learn, or just succeed? There was a difference” (25).
Throughout the book, Kim, Tom, and Eric reflect variations of wanting to learn and wanting to score high. Each of these students craved more than success; they wanted to experience different parts of the world, be around likeminded people, and discover their own strengths. Kim showed a particularly intense drive to learn when she worked to raise the money to go to Finland; she then stayed despite difficulties with depression. Her journey reveals both the value of rigor and the need for grit, or staying power, to weather challenges.
Rigor and the drive to learn also stem from parenting styles and parental involvement in education. Ripley contrasts two styles of parental involvement. US parents are often “cheerleaders,” praising children excessively, while South Korean parents act more like “coaches,” directly involved in guiding academic work and rigor. Ripley argues that in general, US parents treat their children like “delicate flowers” (111), whereas South Korean parents emphasize effort and results. This coaching mentality instills responsibility and discipline, which are two major components of drive.
Finland stands out for its teacher quality and the rigor that its educators demonstrate. Only top students can become teachers, and those teachers are trusted and respected. This institutionalized rigor motivates students by showing them that school is meaningful and prestigious. The opposite is often true in the United States, where it’s not unusual for sports to be prioritized over academics. Kim noted, “When Polish kids took that graduation test, they got dressed up in their nicest clothes—the way high-school football players did on game day in America” (145). The description reveals two differing sets of cultural values, which translate to young people and impact their attitudes toward education. Ripley argues, “In countries where people agreed that school was serious, it had to be serious for everyone. If rigor was a prerequisite for success in life, then it had to be applied evenly” (140). This means that standards must apply to all students, and those who start to fall behind must not be labeled as “lesser” for life but instead be supported and lifted up to the level of their peers.
The Lifelong Importance of Higher-Order Thinking
Ripley’s exploration of global education demonstrates that higher-order thinking is essential not just to a quality education but also to succeeding and thriving in the globalized world. Ripley argues that what separates high-performing education systems from average ones is their emphasis on higher-order thinking, which includes the ability to solve problems, adapt to new situations, and think creatively. The difference, as Ripley demonstrates through the PISA and her global case studies, lies in how deeply students understand what they’re learning and whether they gain more than memorized facts. Ripley explains that countries like Finland and Poland foster this kind of thinking through both systemic reforms and cultural attitudes. For instance, during the recession in the 1990s, Finland used budget cuts as a reason to reform the education system. The country gave teachers more autonomy to save money, allowing them to experiment, design their own lessons, and focus on critical-thinking skills. This liberation of education became essential to Finland’s success.
Mathematics plays a particularly crucial role in this system of higher-order thinking. Ripley explains that “mastering the language of logic helps to embed higher-order habits in kids’ minds: the ability to reason, for example, to detect patterns and make informed guesses” (70). In the United States, reading and writing are emphasized the most in education, and the scores testify to this fact; Ripley states that while these subjects are of course essential, math is more important in earning and managing finances and is essential even for many labor jobs. This means that neglecting math is robbing students of their best possible future. In Poland, math is taught without calculators in order to encourage higher-order thinking; in the United States, by contrast, math is often taught in isolation, with a calculator, and is sometimes repeated year after year, boring students rather than challenging them.
Ripley also makes the point that failure, often feared in American schools, is part of the learning process. In Poland, for instance, students rarely receive perfect grades. This instills an acceptance of failure as part of reality and as motivation to do better. In an increasingly global and rapidly changing world, young people need to be able to adapt, communicate, and think independently to succeed. Systems that cultivate this philosophy produce students ready for secondary education and beyond.
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