How does the American education system compare to other core countries, specifically the best, Finland?
After researching how other countries educate their youth and their scores on the Program of International Student Assessment (PISA) exam. I have realized that our country’s schooling system has long since fallen through the cracks.
Let me first start off with how this project relates to AP Human Geography. I thought it related closely to two chapters. Chapter 9 Development, and Chapter 4 Culture. Development because how educated your country is obviously reflects on how far along it is. I chose Culture as a relating topic because I know here in America, as teenagers school is a large part of our lives. It shapes who we’re friends with and what activities we get into. I also know that the way other countries do school is very abstract to us, but normal to them. Making those cultural differences, or taboos.
In Finland school does not start till seven, and all students advanced and normal are taught in the same classrooms. All teachers are required to have a master’s degree in education and are selected from the top ten percent of their class, teachers are also considered to be in the same class as doctors and lawyers “Whatever it takes.” Is the attitude for most of Finland’s educators. After reading an article about a Finnish school that reflects the attitude of the entire country, it explained that our way of using test to determine which states receive the most federal dollars would not fly in Finland. Because “If you only measure the statistics, you miss the human aspect.”- Timo Heikkinen, a principal for 24 years in Helsinki. After watching a TED Talk by Ken Robinson he explained something. Obviously the United States has a lot more people than Finland, but what we should do is use their entire look on schools, and apply it at a state level. Since the entire country of Finland is about the size of a state here. Close to Finland is Norway, who has a system like we do in the US. Using standardized, broad test to evaluate students leaves them stuck in the middle of PISA scores, (Program for International Student Assessment an exam used to measure the success of a countries academic performance) just like us. It’s beginning to become obvious that our way is less superior.
* From www.oced.org/pisa/aboutpisa * “Since the year 2000, every three years, fifteen-year-old students from randomly selected schools worldwide take tests in the key subjects: reading, mathematics and science, with a focus on one subject in each year of assessment. The students take a test that lasts 2 hours. The tests are a mixture of open-ended and multiple-choice questions that are organized in groups based on a passage setting out a real-life situation. A total of about 390 minutes of test items are covered. Students take different combinations of different tests.”
In the 2012 PISA test, US Students scored beneath the world average in Mathematics, and averagely in Science and Reading. Finland, Canada, and Japan have consistently scored in the top 10 for every category. An article from weareteahers.com explains that Finnish teachers are only told what to teach. Not how to teach, and are encouraged to seek out help from colleagues to better teach the population. If the United States ever wants to reach the top of the world in terms of high scoring, high capable students, changes must be made.
I chose this topic because school is a very large pain to me. I wanted to research and see if it's this painful for everyone else in the world.
After researching how other countries educate their youth and their scores on the Program of International Student Assessment (PISA) exam. I have realized that our country’s schooling system has long since fallen through the cracks.
Let me first start off with how this project relates to AP Human Geography. I thought it related closely to two chapters. Chapter 9 Development, and Chapter 4 Culture. Development because how educated your country is obviously reflects on how far along it is. I chose Culture as a relating topic because I know here in America, as teenagers school is a large part of our lives. It shapes who we’re friends with and what activities we get into. I also know that the way other countries do school is very abstract to us, but normal to them. Making those cultural differences, or taboos.
In Finland school does not start till seven, and all students advanced and normal are taught in the same classrooms. All teachers are required to have a master’s degree in education and are selected from the top ten percent of their class, teachers are also considered to be in the same class as doctors and lawyers “Whatever it takes.” Is the attitude for most of Finland’s educators. After reading an article about a Finnish school that reflects the attitude of the entire country, it explained that our way of using test to determine which states receive the most federal dollars would not fly in Finland. Because “If you only measure the statistics, you miss the human aspect.”- Timo Heikkinen, a principal for 24 years in Helsinki. After watching a TED Talk by Ken Robinson he explained something. Obviously the United States has a lot more people than Finland, but what we should do is use their entire look on schools, and apply it at a state level. Since the entire country of Finland is about the size of a state here. Close to Finland is Norway, who has a system like we do in the US. Using standardized, broad test to evaluate students leaves them stuck in the middle of PISA scores, (Program for International Student Assessment an exam used to measure the success of a countries academic performance) just like us. It’s beginning to become obvious that our way is less superior.
* From www.oced.org/pisa/aboutpisa * “Since the year 2000, every three years, fifteen-year-old students from randomly selected schools worldwide take tests in the key subjects: reading, mathematics and science, with a focus on one subject in each year of assessment. The students take a test that lasts 2 hours. The tests are a mixture of open-ended and multiple-choice questions that are organized in groups based on a passage setting out a real-life situation. A total of about 390 minutes of test items are covered. Students take different combinations of different tests.”
In the 2012 PISA test, US Students scored beneath the world average in Mathematics, and averagely in Science and Reading. Finland, Canada, and Japan have consistently scored in the top 10 for every category. An article from weareteahers.com explains that Finnish teachers are only told what to teach. Not how to teach, and are encouraged to seek out help from colleagues to better teach the population. If the United States ever wants to reach the top of the world in terms of high scoring, high capable students, changes must be made.
I chose this topic because school is a very large pain to me. I wanted to research and see if it's this painful for everyone else in the world.
Strauss, Valerie. "Key PISA Test Results for U.S. Students." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 03 Dec. 2013. Web. 28 May 2014.
Hancock, LynNell. "Why Are Finland's Schools Successful?" Smithsonian. Smithsonian Magazine, Sept. 2011. Web. 26 May 2014.
Mehta, Jal. "Why American Education Fails." Global. Council on Foreign Relations, May-June 2013. Web. 26 May 2014.
"NCEE » Top Performing Countries." NCEE. NCEE, 2014. Web. 28 May 2014.
Robinson, Ken. "How to Escape Education's Death Valley." TED Talks. TED, Apr. 2012. Web. 29 May 2014. <http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_how_to_escape_education_s_death_valley>.
Hancock, LynNell. "Why Are Finland's Schools Successful?" Smithsonian. Smithsonian Magazine, Sept. 2011. Web. 26 May 2014.
Mehta, Jal. "Why American Education Fails." Global. Council on Foreign Relations, May-June 2013. Web. 26 May 2014.
"NCEE » Top Performing Countries." NCEE. NCEE, 2014. Web. 28 May 2014.
Robinson, Ken. "How to Escape Education's Death Valley." TED Talks. TED, Apr. 2012. Web. 29 May 2014. <http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_how_to_escape_education_s_death_valley>.