One of the ideas that really stood out to me in the reading was about "disruptive innovation" and how this was key to other nations improving the quality and equity of their educational systems. It seems that there is a lot of innovation in the US but there is no system in place for replicating and assisting in the spread of the ideas and strategies that were effective. My hope is that with the implementation of the Common Core Standards, more of this will begin to occur as we move away from individual state standards. So much of the success of other countries improvements has been based on equitable funding, and even additional funding for the schools and students who have the greatest needs for their diverse and socially economically disadvantaged students. Another key is in the quality and consistency of teacher training and ongoing professional development. Sadly, I was shocked to learn that in other parts of the world, teachers receive 10-15 hours of collaborative planning, prep time and, opportunities to observe other teachers every week. Imagine how much better educators would be if we had those opportunities to be inspired and learn from our colleagues. I hope that we are getting much closer to building systems that will improve the quality and equity of education that our not only our students receive, but also our educators.