Generally the Asians nearly totally fail to 'get it'. There is no chance that US (or Canadian) K-12 will go very far making the mistakes the Asians make. That

Generally the Asians nearly totally fail to 'get it'. There is no chance that US (or Canadian) K-12 will go very far making the mistakes the Asians make. That tests are fine does not mean that the Asian approach to rote learning is fine. That some students cram for tests does not mean that tests are useless. For being 'engaged', I gave a very long list of ways a third grade teacher might get her students engaged. So, I agree that being 'engaged' is important. But in the article the teacher was using being 'engaged' (A) in only a weak sense (my examples were much stronger) and (B) was using her weak results on 'engaged' to excuse paying less attention to good tests on the basic material. But on being 'engaged' and actually learning well and retaining that knowledge, we've ignored the 2000 pound elephant in the room -- what the student gets at home. Yes, the US could use some national tests of basic material during K-12: The US already has good tests at the end of K-12 (CEEB, SAT) and end of college (GRE, LSAT, GMAT). But for the rest, keep that local at the level of the family, teacher, school, and school board.