I agree that our education system needs some reform. But not "No Child Left Behind", test-'em-'til-they-drop kind of reform. I suppose I'm a bit biased as an English and Classics majour, but I think we need to teach more arts and creativity. The problem with the Asian school systems, I think, is that while they perform excellently on tests, they don't emphasize creativity or individuality in the way they should. Instead of pigeonholing students into the same system, we should offer a bit more diversity even from a young age and allow kids to emphasize what interests them (while, of course, not entirely neglecting the other subjects).

Some kids will immediately take to math. Let them pursue more math or science. Others might show an affinity for English... for such students, the languages should be emphasized. And so on. This may be difficult, but I think it would allow for more creativity and enjoyment of the learning process.

Another point: we need to emphasize foreign languages more. We are SEVERELY behind on this, and if I'm not mistaken it's been proven that foreign languages help mental development overall. Of course, I think Latin should be the universal language of academia, but that's a separate point

Of course, the biggest part of educational success is the encouragement of parents. The best teachers can have students perform terribly if they are never encourage by their parents outside of class--remember, a teacher only sees her students for a few hours a day, five days a week. Unfortunately, there's no real way to deal with this on a state level...