Chapter 1: Introduction: The Old Myth in a New Time

In the era of accountability and globalization, the stellar achievement of Asian and Asian American students continues to intrigue and inspire educational researchers and practitioners. With evidence from both domestic assessments (U.S. Department of Education, 2006a-c) and international competitions (Lemke & Gonzales, 2006; OECD, 2007), the United States and the world began to recognize the competitive edge of Asian and Asian American students even among industrialized countries. Increasingly, business leaders (e.g., Asia Society, the Business Roundtable, & the Council of Chief State School Officers, 2006) and educational researchers (e.g., Cai, 2005; Schmidt et al., 2007; Wang & Lin, 2005) are turning to Asian success stories for inspirations of education reforms to better prepare their students for the challenges of the new millennium.