World Class: Our Mother’s Journey Halfway Around the Globe in Search of the Best Education for Her Children

When education expert Clavel’s son was two years old, she began the competitive search for preschools in New York City (reputedly harder to get into than Stanford, with a four percent acceptance rate). Thousands of parents (some willing to hire expensive counselors to guide them through the application process) compete over fewer than 30 slots, many of which are reserved for legacy kids. At the end of the preschool experience, private preschools in the city have an “exmissions” staff to help parents write “first-choice” letters for admittance to primary schools. Socioeconomic status is the most important factor in a child’s education in the United States, contends Clavel. Her philosophy motivated her family’s decade-long journey through Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Tokyo, where she learned why students in these countries are outpacing those in the States. For example, in Shanghai, her children’s school lacked a working toilet, yet her son developed a love of learning and recognized staying after school wasn’t a punishment but an opportunity. In Japan, parents were forbidden to bring the materials their child had forgotten and were expected to help prepare and serve school lunches, all of which led to a sense of personal responsibility. When Clavel returns home after a decade in Asia, she finds the top-rated schools in California a disappointment.