Each spring, education ministers, master teachers, national union leaders, and education organization leaders convene from countries with high performing and rapidly improving educational systems. The purpose of the gatherings is to identify best practices worldwide that strengthen the teaching profession and raise student achievement. Summit organizers, in collaboration with Asia Society, produce a publication each year on key lessons.

The first two summits in 2011 and 2012, held in the United States and hosted by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, developed a consensus that achieving a high-quality teaching profession is critical to education systems as they face the increasingly ambitious demands of the 21st century. Moreover, the highest performing countries are successful because they take a comprehensive approach to recruiting, preparing, supporting, and retaining talented teachers and school leaders. The 2013 Summit, which was hosted by the Dutch Ministry of Education, OECD, and Education International (the global federation of teachers' unions), took on the complicated issue of teacher evaluation. The 2014 International Summit on the Teaching Profession took place in Wellington, New Zealand. Building on the results of previous Summits, it focused on the issue of how education systems can achieve both excellence and equity.

In 2015, the Summit was held in Banff, Canada, and focused on leadership, recognition, and efficacy. Participants were looking for practical policies informed by evidence that would develop collaborative leadership and improved student achievement in their schools. In 2016, the Summit was held in Berlin, Germany, and focused on teachers' professional learning and growth. In 2017, the Summit was held in Edinburgh, United Kingdom, and focused on empowering educators to help improve equity and outcomes for all students. The 2018 Summit, held in Lisbon, Portugal, focused on new challenges and opportunities for educators around the world. In 2019, the Summit convened in Helsinki, Finland and focused on three interrelated issues within the theme "The Future of Teaching and Learning" — leading together, building strong foundations through innovative pedagogies and practices, and towards sustainable schools.

Read the Summit reports below.