According to The Center on International Education Benchmarking (CIEB), Finland, Japan, and Canada are some of the world’s top performing countries. However, the education system of the United States continues to lag behind that of these three countries and many others. In order to compete more with these countries, one must look more in depth into these education systems and compare the many different factors that are contributing to the success of these countries such as their educational structure, curriculum and assessment, teacher quality, and accountability.
The Center on International Education Benchmarking states that the success of Finland’s schools is said to come from the highly-qualified teachers and the high value the Finns place on the teaching field. Finland has created very in depth policies on the recruitment, selection, training, and supervision process of the teaching profession. However, this would not be enough in itself without the national curriculum they have put into place. This national curriculum does not give teachers’ methods on how to teach, but instead provides guidelines that outline how teachers should focus on developing their students skills and creativity (Hancock).
Finland also tends to focus less on standardized tests for accountability, but more on monitoring students’ progress in comprehensive schools than that of the U.S. The monitoring assessments are offered to these schools for sixth and ninth grade. These assessments are optional to teachers, but most decide to take the test out of curiosity. These results are not publicized, but are used to drive instruction in the classroom. The actual exam that all students strive to do good on is the Matriculation Exam which is taken at the end of u...
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Current educational policy and practice asserts that increased standardized student testing is the key to improving student learning and is the most appropriate means for holding individual schools and teachers accountable for student learning. Instead, it has become a tool solely for summarizing what students have learned and for ranking students and schools. The problem is standardized tests cannot provide the information about student achievement that teachers and students need day-to-day. Classroom assessment can provide this kind of information.
“Students are taking between ten and twenty standardized tests, depending on the grade. A total average of one hundred thirteen different ones by graduation.”(Locker) A few years ago the United States, along with other nations, was given a test to assess the academic strengths and weaknesses of each nation and rank them accordingly. When the results were released and the United States was ranked near the bottom, it was decided to start incorporating more testing through school. Between benchmark, TLI, PARCC, and common core standards, teaching technique was forced to change. Standardized testing has had a negative effect on teachers and students, implementing inadequate grading standards and the common core curriculum, such testing has made
The United States of America has placed low on the educational ladder throughout the years. The cause of such a low ranking is due to such heavy emphasis on standardized testing and not individual student achievement. Although the United States uses standardized testing as a crutch, it is not an effective measure of a student’s ability, a teacher’s competency, or a school’s proficiency.
This assignment has discussed two examples of curricula and it has been concluded that the Finnish curriculum is more suited to preparing individuals to life in the modern society. It has been stated that Finnish schools are ‘the schools of civilisation in an information society’ (Sarajala, 2001b) and therefore, they arguably educate and prepare young adults more sufficiently than the schools of England, who simply provide basic foundations for future development after education.
Since the release of the report by Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) in December of 2010 many in the government and community are searching for ways to reform the American education system to give American students the greatest opportunity to succeed. According to the report, American students are not testing as high as other nations in the world (Duncan, 2010). There are many contributing elements that have brought America to her knees in the education system, however, the obsession with standardized testing is found to be one of the most influential downfalls.
In The Smartest Kids in the World and How They Got That Way, Amanda Ripley investigates the education systems of three of the world’s highest performing countries offering insight into the components necessary to raise education in the United States from its current mediocre place on the world stage. By involving three teenage American exchange students, Ripley gained access to firsthand experience of the familiar US system as compared to the highly competitive systems in Finland, South Korea and Poland. The author proposes that, although the systems vary greatly, commonalities in cultural valuation of education, rigor and teacher quality have made students from these three countries the “smartest kids in the world.”
Education is one of the cornerstones and pillars to the establishment and preservation of democracy. In history, countless scores of philosophers and political thinkers believed that only an educated citizenry can take on the quintessential task of upholding democracy. Thomas Jefferson, the primary writer of the Declaration of Independence, stated that “an informed citizenry is the only true repository of the public will.” A renowned defender of public education, Jefferson proposed plans for an education system that included grammar schools in his presidency. As a result of these relentless policies for education, the United States expanded on the concept of public instruction through the establishment and upkeep of a practical education system. The United States continued this tradition and established a reputation as one of the best education in the world. Currently, this is no longer valid as other countries such as Finland, China, and South Korea are competing for the dominant position through rigorous reforms that aim to boost student performances (“Best Education”). Meanwhile, the American system is inefficient, inhibited by political obstacles and gridlock while Finland, the top ranked country in terms of schooling, is continuing to improve. According to the PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) examinations that tested pupils across a variety of subjects such as reading, mathematics, and science of 2009, Finland’s students were ranked among the top (“PISA 2009”). The American students were ranked below average for industrialized countries in the world, revealing the reality of the educational crisis in the country. Finland’s education system, compared to the Americans, offers major differences that greatly ...
Standardized testing is not the best way to measure how well a teacher teaches or how much a student has learned. Schools throughout the United States put their main focus on standardized tests; these examinations put too much pressure on the teachers and students and cause traumatizing events. Standardized testing puts strain on teachers and students, causing unhealthy occurrences, Common Core is thrown at teachers with no teaching on how to teach the new way, which dampers testing scores for all students, and the American College Test determines whether a child gets into college or not based on what they have learned during high school. Standardized tests are disagreeable; tests should not determine the ranking of people. Standardized testing is believed to be the best way to evaluate how much a child has learned, however most students only score average on the tests.
Every year a significant percentile of the American population struggle with finding access to a quality education that their finances can maintain. Finnish writer, Anu Partanen, contrast the American School Systems and their lack in accomplishments as compared to the educational programs in America. Along with her contrast in the two countries she offers a probable fix to changing the way America operates in her recent essay: Finland’s School Success What Americans Keep Ignoring. Partanen juxtaposes both Finland and America, utilizes ethos, and even provides a visual in order to reinforce her argument on the situation.
The American Education System has been a core component to the development of generations since it became a public system in the 1870s. Since then more rules, higher expectations for some, and even lower expectations for others have been added to the original structure. In recent years, many debates have surfaced over whether the American education system is failing. Too few they believe the American Education System is on the right track. Most researchers however have shown statistics that it is in fact slowly declining as new acts and regimens are added. It has been on a downward spiral for years and citizens have been watching it happen, the lack of government funding, acts like the No Child Left behind Act, focus in the wrong places, and the curriculum set up is acting as a deterrent for success.
...would be further motivated to love and study their subjects, and not be just thinking only about grades. If all teachers dedicate their human potential to their students, then students wouldn’t be scared to participate in discussions in spite of many stumbling barriers. The issues Ernest Boyer discusses in “Creativity in the Classroom” are of current interest not only in American educational system, but in my country as well. So,I would recommend this article to be discussed at teachers’ meetings in different types of educational institutions because the criteria of successful and creative teaching the author identifies in his article are universal and simple at the same time: just be dedicated to your job, care about your students, and don’t be afraid to learn and use new ideas in your classroom. Hence, creativity in the classroom often begins with a good teacher.
Standardized testing in the United States is not always a common practice. In the Mid-1800s, Horace Mann, an education reformist, developed a test to administer to a group of students. Its purpose was to determine how students were performing at their current level and whether they were capable of proceeding to a higher level of education, although the student’s success on the test had no negative repercussions. These tests were a necessity at that time because the idea of public education was still being molded and these tests were the only means by which student progress could be measured. Within 35 years of the first recorded examination in 1845, testing became the factor which determined whether students were able to be promoted to the next grade.
There are many important things children gain while growing up; the most important thing children gain growing up is their education. The educational skills children learn in school teach them the skills they need to perform outside of the classroom and in the workforce. With education being one of the most important gains in the lives of children, it has come to light how in recent years the United States has fallen further and further behind its peers in international rankings. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) 2009 educational scores, the United States ranks “33” (1), which is lower than the 2002 ranking of “18” (CNN). With such a decrease in the United States ranking, parents wonder why American students are falling behind.
...mmond, Linda). In America, students are evaluated based on assessments whereas Finland is not confined to any external standardized tests to rank students or schools. “Most teacher feedback to students is in narrative form, emphasizing descriptions of their learning progress and areas for growth.. The focus is on using information to drive learning and problem-solving, rather than punishment.” (Darling-Hammond, Linda). Finland has shown a promising gradation throughout recent decades; reasons for this may be its approach to tests as it focuses on establishing a productive learning state at a young age then advancing into administering actual tests at a later age. According to observations found by the researchers Välijärvi and his team, “ Finland has adopted alternative approaches in education policies to raise student achievement.” (Välijärvi, J. & Malin, A.).
In conclusion, in Finland,the teachers teach students with the aim of helping them learn,not pass tests.