Norway's accomplished school system stands in stark contrast to the American education process, and it seems to be working.
Ask most any K-12 student in America what they're ideal school day would be, and they'd probably respond with more recess time, less tests and no homework. Well Finland has decided that the children know best.
A rankings system developed by the research company Pearson has declared Finland to be the country with the world's best education system.The ranking system, known as the Economist Intelligence Unit, has combined international test results and data such as graduation rates between 2006 and 2010 to arrive at their conclusions. This is not exactly surprising, as Finland has been at the top world rankings in education for the past 40 years.
What is surprising is the large difference in educational practices that Finland has employed to reach its prestigious status.
Finnish students rarely do homework before becoming teenagers. In the U.S.? The average 5th grader has more than 50 minutes of homework a day assigned to them. But it doesn't stop there.
Standardized in Finland are kept to a single exam, which students must take at the age of 16. Anyone who has been in the American school system can attest to how laughably small this is in comparison to our system. And as far as recess goes? Finish youngster get almost 3 times as much, 75 minutes as compared to 27 minutes in the U.S.
The most probable cause for Finland's success however, is how the view their teachers and the classroom atmosphere. The teacher-to-student ratio there is an impressive 1:12, whereas America routinely hits in the mid-to-high 20s. Then of course there is the matter of teachers themselves, who are picked in Finland from the top 10% of college graduates and must all receive a master's degree.
Granted, America has quite a few more children to serve than Finland, but most people can agree that our education system is in serious need of an overhaul. The fact that most of our teachers are attracted from the bottom 25% of graduates only reestablishes this belief. Perhaps America should take a page out of Finland's book, as our current education system didn't even make the top 15 this year.
