Friday, January 6, 2012

A Strong Finnish

Every three years, the OECD countries do a survey to compare reading, math, and science ability among 15 year olds. Finland, suffering poor scores prior to the 1980s, now ranks regularly among the top contenders (the others being Singapore, Shanghai, and South Korea). The USA ranks firmly in the middle of the pack. So what has Finland been doing right?

An article at the Atlantic states it simply. The Finns do not concentrate on educational excellence; they concentrate on educational equality. There are no private schools in Finland. Let me repeat that: There are no private schools in Finland. Even the few independent schools they have there are financed by government money.

Every Finnish person can attend school to whatever level they are able to attain, regardless of how wealthy or poor their family is. I think that's awesome.

What Americans Keep Ignoring About Finland's School Success

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