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Showing Original Post only (View all)Why Finland's schools are kicking our butt: More focus on the human, less on tests [View all]
There have been a couple threads today on the OECD study that found the US near the bottom of Western countries in math and tech skills. The same study confirmed, again, that Finland is doing something right but what is it?
Whatever it takes is an attitude that drives not just Kirkkojarvis 30 teachers, but most of Finlands 62,000 educators in 3,500 schools from Lapland to Turkuprofessionals selected from the top 10 percent of the nations graduates to earn a required masters degree in education. Many schools are small enough so that teachers know every student. If one method fails, teachers consult with colleagues to try something else. They seem to relish the challenges. Nearly 30 percent of Finlands children receive some kind of special help during their first nine years of school. The school where Louhivuori teaches served 240 first through ninth graders last year; and in contrast with Finlands reputation for ethnic homogeneity, more than half of its 150 elementary-level students are immigrantsfrom Somalia, Iraq, Russia, Bangladesh, Estonia and Ethiopia, among other nations. Children from wealthy families with lots of education can be taught by stupid teachers, Louhivuori said, smiling. We try to catch the weak students. Its deep in our thinking.
The transformation of the Finns education system began some 40 years ago as the key propellent of the countrys economic recovery plan. Educators had little idea it was so successful until 2000, when the first results from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), a standardized test given to 15-year-olds in more than 40 global venues, revealed Finnish youth to be the best young readers in the world. Three years later, they led in math. By 2006, Finland was first out of 57 countries (and a few cities) in science. In the 2009 PISA scores released last year, the nation came in second in science, third in reading and sixth in math among nearly half a million students worldwide. Im still surprised, said Arjariita Heikkinen, principal of a Helsinki comprehensive school. I didnt realize we were that good.
...
There are no mandated standardized tests in Finland, apart from one exam at the end of students senior year in high school. There are no rankings, no comparisons or competition between students, schools or regions. Finlands schools are publicly funded. The people in the government agencies running them, from national officials to local authorities, are educators, not business people, military leaders or career politicians. Every school has the same national goals and draws from the same pool of university-trained educators. The result is that a Finnish child has a good shot at getting the same quality education no matter whether he or she lives in a rural village or a university town. The differences between weakest and strongest students are the smallest in the world, according to the most recent survey by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Equality is the most important word in Finnish education. All political parties on the right and left agree on this, said Olli Luukkainen, president of Finlands powerful teachers union.
The transformation of the Finns education system began some 40 years ago as the key propellent of the countrys economic recovery plan. Educators had little idea it was so successful until 2000, when the first results from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), a standardized test given to 15-year-olds in more than 40 global venues, revealed Finnish youth to be the best young readers in the world. Three years later, they led in math. By 2006, Finland was first out of 57 countries (and a few cities) in science. In the 2009 PISA scores released last year, the nation came in second in science, third in reading and sixth in math among nearly half a million students worldwide. Im still surprised, said Arjariita Heikkinen, principal of a Helsinki comprehensive school. I didnt realize we were that good.
...
There are no mandated standardized tests in Finland, apart from one exam at the end of students senior year in high school. There are no rankings, no comparisons or competition between students, schools or regions. Finlands schools are publicly funded. The people in the government agencies running them, from national officials to local authorities, are educators, not business people, military leaders or career politicians. Every school has the same national goals and draws from the same pool of university-trained educators. The result is that a Finnish child has a good shot at getting the same quality education no matter whether he or she lives in a rural village or a university town. The differences between weakest and strongest students are the smallest in the world, according to the most recent survey by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Equality is the most important word in Finnish education. All political parties on the right and left agree on this, said Olli Luukkainen, president of Finlands powerful teachers union.
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/Why-Are-Finlands-Schools-Successful.html#ixzz2h9xpqqs3
A great article with lots of detail for those who are interested and more evidence that NCLB was an ill-conceived farce.
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Why Finland's schools are kicking our butt: More focus on the human, less on tests [View all]
KurtNYC
Oct 2013
OP
"Resources for those who need them most " -- that is the difference that keeps jumping out
KurtNYC
Oct 2013
#5
Their teachers are treated as professionals. They have to be on the top 10% of their
DevonRex
Oct 2013
#4
Why does it always seem like everybody but us has this stuff figured out?
liberal_at_heart
Oct 2013
#11
When the politicians started saying that our schools were to "compete" for dollars
KurtNYC
Oct 2013
#12
Outstanding..and the US can't replicate this model because our country is too big.
Jefferson23
Oct 2013
#18
kick to compare a good school system with our Common Core and Race to the Top.
liberal_at_heart
Oct 2013
#19