And what was the minotaur? The ten-year-olds scribble their answer onto tiny whiteboards and hold them up for the teacher to see. Once each has got a nod, they repeat together: half-man, half-bull.By the time these fifth-graders at the Basis School in Scottsdale, Arizona, reach 8th grade they will have the option of taking Advanced Placement (AP) exams, standardised nationally to test high-school students for college entry. By the 9th grade, they must do so. As a result, says Michael Block, the schools co-founder, our students are two years ahead of Arizona and California schools and one year ahead of the east coast.
But that, he emphasises, is not the yardstick he and his wife Olga use. Instead, their two Basis schools, one in Tucson and this one in suburban Phoenix, explicitly compete with the best schools in the world — South Koreas in maths, or Finlands in classics.
They had the idea after Olga Block came to Arizona from her native Czech Republic, looked for a school for her daughter and was horrified by the mediocrity and low expectations of American public schools. So they decided to establish a world-standard school in the desert, says Michael Block. They started the Tucson campus in 1998 and added the Scottsdale one recently.
On both occasions they had to overcome fierce resistance, as anybody must who takes on Americas unionised and sclerotic public school system. But they persevered. Their schools have charters to receive public money, so they cannot charge tuition fees or select the best students as private schools can. Instead, they have hired the best teachers they can find, many from Ivy League universities. They give them autonomy in the classroom, but then hold them accountable for meeting AP standards.
Its working. The Basis schools rank at or near the top in most surveys of American public schools. One part of a documentary about America falling hopelessly behind China and India in education features Basis as the rare exception. Politicians from Newt Gingrich on the right to Al Shrapton on the left have taken an interest. Craig Barrett, a former boss of Intel, sat in on a chemistry class and donated about $500,000 for teachers bonuses on the spot. Every community should have a Basis school, he says.

(Excerpted and adapted from The Economist)