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And you don't attribute any of that to the “public school” part, do you?

because that would be stupid.

Wow you left that one wide open. Where to begin??
These Asian parents are busy working to improve their situation in life. They are not usually college educated and do not know the information to pass on to their children so yes the do in fact get the material they are expected to know from the schools. This is first hand information for me. I know many of the Asian parents of my son's classmates and then make no bones about the fact that their kids go to school to learn and will not treat it as a big social event.
The main difference is cultural. These parents fully expect their children to learn the information presented to them in school. Their children are made to study every day not just doing homework but reviewing all information given to them in their classes. Their children usually do not play sports, or sit and play video games, they study after school every day.
What we are talking about here is not a difference in teachers or schools, but a difference in parenting skills.
It is always easier to blame the teachers or the schools when your child fails to learn. The truth is usually that the parents don't follow up on anything, do not make their children study, do homework, or respect the teachers. In the end parents will never accept that they didn't do their part in the process of their child's education. Truth be knows they have no idea what homework their kid has or what that child is supposed to be learning. They think that is someone else’s problem.
Do you see the difference yet???

Without controlled studies it is impossible to know if schools are actually the source of knowledge. What exactly is learned in the classroom from that acquired outside the school due to the efforts of the parents, the child himself doing home study, private and paid tutoring, and STUDY CLUBS.

These studies have NEVER been done.

I too have known Asian families on a professional basis. Their kids came into the office with reading games on their child-sized computers. Older children and cousins sat in the waiting room reading to the younger children and ( gasp!) supervising HOMEwork, The older children told me about their AFTERSCHOOL study clubs. Some high schoolers were doing research projects with professors at the university.

So?....You observations are just as anecdotal as mine. Without studies it is impossible to know if schools teach anything at all, or are merely sending home a very expensive curriculum to be ( homeschooled) IN THE HOME.

I doubt any “educator” will be doing such studies. Imagine that! Up to $30,000/year/child on a government educational prison-like experience and no one knows if it is effective or not.