Comparing math teaching practices in Japan and Germany with those in the United States, two leading researchers offer a surprising new view of teaching and a bold action plan for improving education inside the American classroom.

The authors draw on the conclusions of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) to refocus educational reform efforts. Using videotaped lessons of eighth-grade classrooms in the United States, Japan, and Germany, the authors reveal the rich, yet unfulfilled promise of American teaching and document exactly how other countries have consistently stayed ahead of us in the rate their children learn.

They propose a process for accomplishing gradual, measurable, and continuous improvement of our schools that is based on a model of professional development used in Japanese schools.

Published by The Free Press, the book is available from local and online bookstores.

The Teaching Gap web site www.lessonlab.com/teaching-gap

At this site you can join a discussion with others who have read the book, contact its authors, and view video examples of teaching in Germany and Japan.