The nonprofit organization Common Core looked at curriculums, standards, and assessments in nine nations that consistently outrank the United States on the Programme for International Assessment (PISA) to see whether differences in countries' PISA scores are due to differences in the content they teach. Findings revealed that top-performing nations share a dedication to providing their students with a comprehensive education across the liberal arts and sciences whereas U.S. students spend countless hours preparing to take tests of their basic reading and math skills. The author concludes that no nation that scores competitively on the PISA exam puts skills before content or focuses chiefly on reading and math. The United States should make a point of learning from the education practices of high-performing nations. (Contains 1 endnote.)