Canadians often assume that what is said about education south of the U.S. border applies north of it as well. However Canada's international rankings are consistently higher than those of the U.S., primarily because of different social conditions (less inequality, less child poverty, etc.) and different educational policies (more equitable financing, better qualified and motivated teachers, and less diversity in quality of schools). In both countries, in the search for better schooling, we should be cautious about embracing innovation as the solution. Innovation has a role to play, but if we were applying everything we already know about how to improve outcomes, we would achieve very large gains. Many of the ideas that have the most powerful effects are still very far from common practice in schools. This is how improvement has been generated in many areas of human activity--by unrelenting effort at small improvements rather than by breakthroughs or transformations, which are few and far between. (Contains 9 endnotes.)