The World’s Best Education System?

With the possible exception of some FPS administrators and certain members of the Franklin School Board most everyone agrees the United States needs to improve its education system dramatically, but the question is how? One of the hottest trends in education reform lately is looking at the stunning success of the West's reigning education superpower, Finland, a  Nordic country in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic.  The problem is that when it comes to the lessons that Finnish schools have to offer.  However,  most of the discussion seems to be missing the point.

Finland's schools owe their new-found fame due primarily to one study: the PISA survey, conducted every three years by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The survey compares 15-year-olds in different countries in reading, math, and science. Finland has ranked at or near the top in all three competencies on every survey since 2000, neck and neck with super-achievers such as South Korea and Singapore. In the most recent survey in 2009 Finland slipped slightly, with students in Shanghai, China, taking the best scores, but the Finns are still near the very top. Throughout the same period, the PISA performance of the United States has been middling, at best.

Fox News wrote In a December 2 article that five states were to announce Monday that they will add at least 300 hours of learning time to the calendar in some schools starting in 2013. Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Tennessee will take part in the initiative, which is intended to boost student achievement and make U.S. schools more competitive on a global level.

Bussiness Insider wrote in a December 14, 201 piece entitled “26 Amazing Facts About Finland's Unorthodox Education System”  that since it implemented huge education reforms 40 years ago, Finland's school system has consistently come at the top for the international rankings for education systems.

Here are a few of the facts about Finland's Education that are featured in this article.  Some may really surprise you.

• The Children Must Play.
• Finnish children don't start school until they are 7.
• Compared with other systems, they rarely take exams or do homework until they are well into their teens.

Read more about what the United States could learn from Finland about education reform. 

It's hard to argue with proven success.

RELATED STORY

• Oak Creek-Franklin School Board grapples with grading scale changes