In order to lead a scientific, healthy and rapid development of education, it is imperative to  grasp education trends at a macro level, conduct in-depth analyses of internal and external factors  on educational development, carry out comprehensive investigations on the law of educational  development, thereby formulating scientific education policies and decision makings. The degree  of understanding and grasping of education strategies and decision makings arguably determines  the level and speed of educational development in a country or region. The history of human civilization amply demonstrates that education is like the goose laying  golden eggs. In order to build a prosperous country and boost the well-being of people, developed  countries have generally regarded education as the foundation to enhance international  competitiveness and attached great importance to the study on educational development strategy  and decision making. With relevant education policies and regulations formulated as well as  mechanisms of operation guarantee improved, these countries have guided social development  with the concept of Education First, and vigorously promoted the reform and development of  education at all levels and in all kinds of fields. Throughout the development history of developed countries after World War II, it is not  difficult to find that education and talents serve as the fundamental guarantee for sustainable  development. In order to promote educational reform and development, these countries have  conducted in-depth research on education trends and strategies, formulated a series of education  laws and policies, and placed education as the priority development. From 1957 to 1958, the members of the U.S. Congress submitted more than 1,500 bills  related to education issues, with dozens of laws pertinent to education passed in a short period of  two years. The National Defense Education Act (NDEA) has regarded education as the key factor  to the survival of the nation and promoted American higher education towards its golden age. In  1983, the U.S. government launched the report, A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational  Reform, addressed to American citizens on the importance of educational reform and innovation.  In 1991, President Bush issued America 2000: An Education Strategy, in which the six national  education goals were specified. The next year after taking office, President Clinton requested the  Congress to pass the Goals 2000: Education America Act with national educational goals more  elaborated. In 2001, the Junior Bush Administration approved the educational reform, the No  Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), under which all public schools were required to let all students  score at the “proficient” level in reading and math within the next twelve years. In addition, those  schools failing to meet targets within the specified time were subject to the corresponding  rectification measures. The American Competitiveness Initiative launched in 2006 reflects the  great importance that the U.S. government has attached to science and technology, innovation and  education in the new era, and its proactive attempt to improve the national knowledge  competitiveness and the strategic position in international competition by the use of knowledge  and educational resources. In the same year, the U.S. Department of Education stressed in its  report, Strengthening Education: Meeting the Challenge of a Change World, that President Bush  has put innovation and education in the first place. From a series of education policies launched in  the United States, we can easily highlight the sustained attention and support dedicated by the  government to education from the height of national development strategy. Many European countries have the tradition of valuing education. Their prospective and strategic research on education issues has become an important guarantee for the sustainable  development of both their society and their education. At the end of the 20th century, Tony Blair,  the Prime Minister of U.K., put forward that education was an important part of social security  and should be the primary responsibility of the government. In 1998, the British government  issued the white paper, Our Competitive Future: Building a Knowledge-driven Economy, pointing  out that knowledge, skills and creativity were what U.K. needed the most to gain the competitive  edge in the world market. In 1998, Germany also clearly indicated in its report, Global  Competitiveness: Prospects for Education, Science and Economy, that the efficient system of  education, science and research served as a favorable prerequisite for the whole nation, which  must be secured and further expanded in order to take the lead in global competition in the coming  future. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the Government of Russian Federation has  worked out a series of educational development plans around the strategic issues concerning the  development of Russian education. For example, the Russian Federation Education Development  Plan in 2000, the Conception of the Modernization of Russian Education by 2010 proposed in  2001, the National Education Development Plan in 2005, etc. Those prospective education  strategies and decision makings have important guiding effects on the educational reform and  development in these countries. In the 21st century, the European Union has formulated and implemented a series of  education strategies to promote the overall development and quality of education in the European  region. For example, the Lisbon Strategy formulated in 2000 set specifically increased economic  growth and reduced unemployment as priority targets, with the plan to raise EU’s economic  growth rate to 3% and the employment rate to 70% by the target year 2010. In 2010, the Europe  2020 Strategy proposed several strategic tasks and measures, including smart, sustainable and  inclusive growth. In European Cooperation in Education and Training (ET2020), a strategic  framework was provided with four strategic objectives set out to advance lifelong learning,  improve the quality and efficiency of education, promote equity and social cohesion, and  encourage creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship at all levels of education and training. With the advent of the big data era and the new changes of world economic and social  landscape, the contest of comprehensive national strength based on education as well as the  international competition centered on science and technology have become increasingly fierce.  Many developed countries have been actively adjusting their education policies according to their  respective needs for development strategies, striving to enhance their core competitiveness  through the basic role of education and the commitment to nurturing talents, for the purpose of promoting sustainable economic development and national prosperity. The current international competition has been filled with increasingly fierce contests of  comprehensive national strength, national knowledge competitiveness and competition for talent  resources. Whoever grasps the education of the 21st century will grasp the initiative of  international competition in the coming future. Since the reform and opening-up, remarkable  achievements have been made in education in China, laying a great educational foundation and  providing ample human resources for economic and social development. Yet, in the face of new  opportunities and challenges, it is a must to grasp more accurately the principal contradictions  and basic laws of educational development. Admittedly, there exist some deep-seated problems in  Chinese educational reform and development, which requires us to focus our research on the  prospective, overall, comprehensive and strategic issues concerning the country’s long-term development, put forward the grand strategy to promote educational development, and explore  the policy measures to address the major problems of education in China. In particular, in the  context of globalization, we need to base ourselves on China’s reality and aim at the major needs  of the future development pertinent to the country and the nation, so as to promote the scientific  and people-oriented development modes of education, and to advance the coordinated  development of society and education. Specifically, we should grasp the key issues in educational  development, including education equity, education quality improvement, innovation and  entrepreneurship education, talent cultivation and selection mechanism, and other strategic and  policy issues, thus correspondingly putting forward effective countermeasures and purposefully  providing consulting service beneficial for the government to optimize education decision  makings. At the same time, we must realize that the study on education strategy is multi-leveled,  multi-dimensional and multi-perspective. We should pay attention to analyzing and solving the  comprehensive, long-term and complicated problems of educational development in different  regions, levels as well as types, in order to promote the coordinated development of corresponding  educational fields. Our times call for educational theory scholars to make more contributions to educational  reform and development, which indicates that the study on education strategy and decision making  should become a hot issue in the present field of educational theory. Many scholars have carried  out effective research on education strategy from different perspectives, and a bulk of research  findings have played an important guiding and referential role in education decision making and  practice. In the course of extensive research on education strategy, we are delighted to see that  international education organizations, academic institutions at home and abroad and scholars have  developed various forms of cooperation. For instance, UNESCO has organized a series of  strategic studies and published research reports in line with international educational reforms and  development trends. Among them, the concepts and strategies for development proposed in  Learning To be and Learning: The Treasure Within have become an important reference for the  development of education in all countries. The EU has organized its member states to set up  prospective strategic plans in the areas of life-long learning, vocational education and  entrepreneurship education. Central China Normal University, Zhejiang University, National  Center for Education Development Research, National Institute of Education Sciences and  Shanghai Academy of Educational Sciences have jointly established the National Education  Policy-making Collaborative Innovation Center to facilitate collaborative studies on education  strategy and decision making. The Jiangsu Basic Education Talent Cultivation Collaborative  Innovation Center have also been jointly set up by Nanjing Normal University, Zhejiang  University, and Nanjing University to advance cooperative research on regional strategic issues,  such as the development of basic education and talent cultivation. This kind of cooperative  research is a great help to tackle the issues concerning educational development strategies both at  home and abroad, whether in terms of expanding research vision and content, or innovating  methodology. With the care and support of the academic community, this series attempts to trace the  important trends of educational reform and development at home and abroad through analyzing a  number of strategic issues in educational development, and to probe into the hot issues of  educational reform and development from the macro and micro perspectives, thereby serving as a modest spur to arouse wider attention and insights to the issues regarding education strategy and  decision making. Any comment or criticism is highly welcomed.