"Add up the scores on the recent international tests in math and science released by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement and it's clear the United States isn't making the grade. Even with an upward tick in math scores, American students were still left in the dust of high-achieving Asian countries, while stagnant science scores were even more disappointing.

President-elect Barack Obama has promised to return the United States to the top of the class, and recently he selected Chicago schools chief Arne Duncan to lead the effort as his education secretary. But the controversial Stanford professor Linda Darling-Hammond has been the brains behind Obama's education policy over the past year as a lead education advisor on the campaign and during the transition. Her calls for better tests under No Child Left Behind and better teacher training have made it to the top of Obama's education priorities."

Darling-Hammond spoke with NEWSWEEK's Sarah Garland about what America's schools could learn from Finland and Singapore.  Read more.