“As I have shared before, I am not a believer that American public schools should follow practices of other schools in other developing countries.  We as Americans are very unique and among many of our great beliefs and cultures is that we believe in schooling ALL children.  We also fund our public schools using local tax dollars.  That said, this editorial below about Finland’s public schools from a recent USA Today has some information we should seriously ponder.” ~Thomas

Education in Finland

An Excerpt from USA Today Editorial: America can learn from best practices abroad

In a 2009 international assessment of math proficiency, American students ranked 32nd, behind virtually all developed countries. In second place stood Finland, a country that also used to languish in mediocrity.

Finland, which like the U.S. funds its schools locally, does a lot of things that American leaders should consider. Among them, it starts its kids early, with state-run, high-quality day care beginning at six months. This ensures that children are ready to learn when they reach kindergarten and first grade.

Finnish schools frequently employ a second teacher in the classroom to focus on the struggling students. This allows those students to get specialized attention while remaining in the same class as their peers.

Most remarkably, Finland appears to have solved the problem of teacher burnout that plagues our system. In the USA, roughly half of all new teachers quit in their first five years. Too many of those remaining lose their passion for the profession but are almost impossible to fire.

Finland avoids this by getting the best teachers and giving them tools they need to thrive. It subsidizes the education of would-be teachers, helping to attract bright students who can begin their careers debt-free. It then puts them through a battery of tests, training seminars and internships to make sure that they are ready before they step into the classroom.

Once approved, Finnish teachers are given much greater leeway to teach, including the ability to select their own textbooks in many cases. They are highly respected in society, receiving the kind of acclaim that is common in the USA for military personnel, firefighters and police officers.

All of this has helped to make Finland a pilgrimage site of sorts for education leaders from around the world who hope to emulate its successes. The United States would do well to learn in its classroom.

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