These sorts of articles always smack of cargo cultism. First we say "Holy crap, country <i>X</i> is doing better than the US in standardized test <i>Y</i>!". Then we pick out all the ways in which country <i>X</i> is different from the US. Then we throw out the ones which we don't like and assume it <i>must</i> be the other ones which are responsible. Therefore, if we hold childrens' hands more then they'll do better in tests and if build a big flat area in the middle of the jungle and wave sticks in the air then a giant metal bird will land and bring us cargo.<p>The answer to the question of how to improve US education is obvious to everybody... unfortunately the obvious answer always seems to differ depending on whom you're talking to. Teachers' unions will say that the answer is to pay more money to teachers. Anti-union activists will say that the answer is to get rid of teachers' unions. The left will say that we need more redistributive taxation, while the right will say that we need to implement market-based reforms to force schools to compete with one another. And racists will say that it's unavoidable that the US will do worse than European countries, because the US has so many black people.<p>Problems are relatively easy to solve when political agendas are involved, but once you get to the stage where everybody is simultaneously shouting "This new piece of evidence clearly shows that my political agenda was right all along" then problems have become completely insoluble.
<i>It’s almost unheard of for a child to show up hungry or homeless.</i><p>I don't see how this author can fail to make any mention of the vastly different demographics in Finland as compared to the US. Certainly the US system has problems, but acting like the solutions are so easy doesn't help anyone.<p>Finland has one of the most even wealth distributions in the world. The education problem in the US, as far as I can tell, is mostly in the lower class. So the larger the middle class, the smaller the problem.<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_distribution_of_wealth" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_distributi...</a><p>Am I missing something?
From the interesting submitted article: "Teachers in Finland spend fewer hours at school each day and spend less time in classrooms than American teachers. Teachers use the extra time to build curriculums and assess their students. Children spend far more time playing outside, even in the depths of winter. Homework is minimal. Compulsory schooling does not begin until age 7."<p>The bit about teachers having time to prepare their lessons is one of the key observations of east Asian schools too.<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Learning-Gap-Schools-Japanese-Education/dp/0671880764" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Learning-Gap-Schools-Japanese-Educatio...</a><p><a href="http://www.tc.columbia.edu/lessonstudy/lessonstudy.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.tc.columbia.edu/lessonstudy/lessonstudy.html</a><p>Schools in east Asia have similar staffing ratios (teachers per enrolled pupil) to schools in the United States, but they have MUCH larger class sizes, with teachers having work periods during the day when they review and prepare lessons with colleagues. That makes the teachers more effective, per teacher, and helps the teachers cope with the larger class sizes, because they teach more engaging lessons. When I lived in Taiwan a decade ago, I had a chance to see in a bookstore some Chinese-language books used by teachers to prepare mathematics lessons. They are unlike ANYTHING available in English, much richer in mathematical content and much more filled with sound, practice-based pedagogical tips than comparable books published in the United States.<p>Because American schools don't try very hard to engage in best practice in teacher coordination for good lesson preparation, and because many United States school textbooks, especially in mathematics, are just plain lousy, I'm able to make a living as a teacher of supplemental mathematics lessons for children who are already attending their free public schools during other days of the week. In this regard, I'd be happy if the system here changed in a way that put me out of my current job.<p>Another key fact from farther along in the submitted article: "Applicants began flooding teaching programs, not because the salaries were so high but because autonomy and respect made the job attractive." That explains exactly why I teach in the private sector rather than in the government-operated schools of the United States, which hobble the best teachers and coddle the worst in their employ.
I do not know if it was mentioned in the article as I did not read it fully, I'm Finnish and am sort of tired of reading or hearing about this particular subject, but it is worth mentioning that all Finnish teachers are required to have a Master's degree to qualify as teachers (even kindergarten ones). Since higher education is free (there are no private universities in Finland), the threshold to study to become a teacher is very small, and usually there is quite a surplus of teachers in popular fields, in hard sciences as an example.<p>Those that select a teaching curriculum in the university spend 1-2 years interning in schools during their studies. Most people end up taking up teaching curricula just because it is a sure way of getting employment especially if one is studying a field in which employment is scarce outside of academia, say, philosophy.<p>I myself am studying computer science and I plan to enroll in a teaching curriculum should life in academia turn out to be boring, mostly because a) teaching is fun b) it pays relatively well c) a three month paid vacation from June to the end of August is a plus and d) it is a respected profession.
Because they are full of Finns.<p><a href="http://www.amren.com/mtnews/archives/2010/12/pisa_scores_sho.php" rel="nofollow">http://www.amren.com/mtnews/archives/2010/12/pisa_scores_sho...</a>
"All children—clever or less so—were to be taught in the same classrooms, with lots of special teacher help available to make sure no child really would be left behind."<p>I imagine this would be very frustrating for a child who is considered "clever". By lumping everyone together in the same classroom, the kids who are ahead of the others could quickly grow bored and lose interest. I live in America, and I know that I was bored as hell until 6th grade, where classes started to be filtered based on abilities. While this article focuses on standardized test scores for all students, I would be interested to see data on "gifted" education in Finland using this one-size fits all approach.
Another article (<a href="http://finnish-and-pisa.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow">http://finnish-and-pisa.blogspot.com/</a>, submitted - <a href="http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2918684" rel="nofollow">http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2918684</a>) suggests Finish-Ugric languages give Finnish and Estonian schools an edge in PISA results (and education in general).<p>The writing is regular, and vocabulary very simple - think "tear sacs" instead of whatever Latin / Greek / German / French derived term you use in English.<p>I like their right-wing teaching system, which seems to follow the stuff that's got some empirical backing (DI, mastery learning, no retention, etc), but there are other factors.
Of course it's easier to teach a smaller homogenous group than a large diverse group.<p>Doesn't make sense to try to find a one size fits all solution for a problem with a multitude of unique aspects: culture, race, language, income, etc.<p>In Finland on the other hand it does, because they are all the same culturally, racially, economically and speak the same language.
I can't wait for Finns to pop in here to tell us about the dark sides of this success. There must be some. For one, there's a tax rate that would make most Americans, and even most Europeans, choke on their latte.<p>I'm not sure that's bad, but this article seems to neglect to mention that nothing comes for free. This isn't just "doing it smarter", it's also investing a massive chunk of money.<p>Additionally, I honestly doubt it's sustainable. The example of the Kosovar kid with a language delay is telling: this will only work if there's only a few such kids in the school at once. With immigration to Finland strongly increasing over the past 5 years, the problem may at some point be more difficult to tackle the "traditional way" when, at least in certain cities and suburbs, half the classroom has trouble with the language. I don't think there's an easy solution to this.