World-Class Treatment

In a multi-year project, The Des Moines Register is exploring how an Iowa education could be world class.

Today's front-page letter from Editor Carolyn Washburn explains the project and refers to inside content about schools in Finland (an academic all-star).

Online, the newspaper outlined what it found in examining schools in Iowa, Chicago and Finland. On Dec. 7, Canada will be added. An interactive map compares how U.S. students and students around the world performed on tests, and a quiz tests readers' knowledge of student performance. Q&As, guest columns, a transcript of educators' roundtable discussions and education links are offered. A deputy editorial-page editor, who researched the project and visited schools, has been blogging world-class schools, and a live chat is planned for later this week.