This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

High school students in Asia often do better than American students on international math and science tests. Experts say part of this is because schools in countries like China and South Korea do better at preparing students to take tests. Yet some of these same countries want to learn what makes American students good at creativity and critical thinking.

Foreign educators often visit Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia, near Washington. This past summer, seventy-five school principals visited from China.

Evan Glazer, the principal of Thomas Jefferson, says the school combines science and math with literature and other liberal arts.

EVAN GLAZER: "Curriculum, when it's seen within one particular context, you're really just developing knowledge and skills.