From NCEE Founding President Marc Tucker and in partnership with the Center for American Foundation and the Broad Foundation, this report outlines the school governance structures used in the top-performing countries around the world in an effort to draw out lessons for the United States. The report looks at Australia, Canada (Ontario), China (Hong Kong and Shanghai), Finland, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Singapore – all among the countries with the highest student achievement and greatest equity as reported by PISA. The report argues that school governance might be the most important topic in American education today and that we will not be able to meet the challenges that now face us until we rethink the way we approach education policy.