When journalist Amanda Ripley decided to exam the world's leading educational systems, she wanted to get the perspective of insiders, of those most affected by each system, that is, students.

She spent a year following American exchange students in Finland, South Korea and Poland.

Through these teens she begins to examine the school systems in these countries, which are reportedly the best in the world, and has compiled what she's found into her latest book, "The Smartest Kids in the World."

Anchor Marco Werman speaks with Amanda Ripley about what she discovered.