Teacher knowledge must be greater than merely knowing how to demonstrate routine procedures if students are to learn how to solve novel problems. Students of teachers who have a deeper understanding of problem solving perform better. U.S. lessons are less coherent. Japanese teachers are more likely to explain the connection between different parts of the same lesson. U.S. lessons often fail to connect to other math problems.
Teachers collaborate more in Japan.
U.S. teachers do not share or collaborate with colleagues as frequently as Asian teachers do. Teachers in America walk into their classes at 8 a.m. and leave at 3 p.m. The consortium school districts can afford to pay more for public education. Being good wasn't good enough for Kimmelman and the others, though. Kimmelman wanted consortium students to be world-class achievers in science and math, which prompted the name First in the World.