The leadership of Qatar has a social and political vision that calls for improving the outcomes of the Qatari K-12 education system. With this vision in mind, the leadership asked RAND to examine Qatar's K-12 education system, to recommend options for building a world-class system, and, subsequently, to develop the chosen option and support its implementation. The option that was selected includes internationally benchmarked curriculum standards, national testing based on those standards, independent government-funded schools, and parental choice among schools using annual school report cards. This executive summary provides an overview of Phase I (2001-2004) of the Qatari education reform initiative, "Education for a New Era," based on RAND's experiences as part of this ambitious effort involving Qataris and Qatari organizations, and international consultants and contractors. An Arabic translation is included. (Contains 2 figures.) [The research described in this report was prepared for the Supreme Education Council and conducted within RAND Education and the RAND-Qatar Policy Institute. The work reported was funded by the State of Qatar. For the full report, see ED496987.]