Findland's Education System Analysis

570 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Finland education system

In comparison to the United States, Finland carries out a model of educational reform completely different. “Finnish students have no experience with high-stakes standardized testing in school, unlike their peers in many other countries where testing has become an integral element of school life” ( ). The United States education system evolves around standardized testing. While Findland’s education system has a different view on standardized tests and follows a different form of assessing students and gathering data.
From the three educational reforms in the United States including, the “ Golden Age, Nation at Risk in 1983 and No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) movements led to the development of learning standards and how success

Show More
Related

  • Annotated Bibliography On Standardized Testing

    1210 Words  | 3 Pages

    She explains how standardized tests, such as the one her students took, were designed with numerous interference techniques, included questions which were above-grade material, and were administered with inadequate time to answer the questions being presented. Stahlman goes on to express her frustration with a standardized test which was administered to her students by saying "I watched in horror as my precious students, who were gifted poets and writers, inquisitive scientists and mathematicians, lovers of books, remarkable artists, and caring learners, were forced to silently attempt to master a test that was designed to trip them up." (Stahlman 242) The author also states how these standardized tests seem to be high-stakes in nature due to schools being labeled and ranked according to their scores and teachers being rewarded due to their students achievement in these tests. This article serves as one of my stronger arguments for my case compared to my other sources, due to its exemplification of how the proliferation of such tests is alarming and how the standardized testing of students at such a young age is not appropriate due to their cognitive development. The article is also useful in the sense that is provides a valid and sound argument for the opposition of standardized testing. I will be implementing this source into my argumentative essay by providing examples from Stahlman's text on how bizarre standardized testing might seem when it comes to the assessment of students, especially at such a young age. It will also serve as a good source for proving how much of a bearing standardized tests hold on the assessment of not only students but teachers as

    Read More

  • Standardized Testing Has a Negative Effect on American Youth

    1129 Words  | 3 Pages

    This is precisely the problem. Standardized tests are old and outdated, and the harm they cause to America’s education system by far outweighs the benefits. These tests were intended to monitor and offer ways to improve how public schools function, but instead they have impaired the natural learning ability of students and imposed upon the judgment of experienced educators. Although a means to evaluate the progress of public schools is necessary, it is also necessary to develop more modern and effective ways of doing so. Standardized testing mandated by the federal and state governments has a negative effect on the education of America’s youth.

    Read More

  • Why America's Educational System is Failing

    1116 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Standardized Testing In Public Schools

    1026 Words  | 3 Pages

    Do you like being bombarded with the stress of having to take so many tests? In 1845 the US brought standardized testing in the subjects spelling, geography, and math into public schools (Standardized Testing 1). Standardized tests were made to swiftly assess students abilities (Standardized Testing 1). The No Child Left Behind Act in 2002 mandated testing in all 50 states. In the article, “Standardized Tests,” it states that “US students slipped from 18th in the world in math in 2000 to 31st place in 2009, with a similar decline in science and no change in reading” (Use of Standardized Tests 5). Blame of the decline in rates are on poverty levels, teacher quality, tenure policies, and increasingly on the pervasive use

    Read More

  • Standardized Testing Informative Essay

    1126 Words  | 3 Pages

    “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

    Read More

  • The American Education

    1841 Words  | 4 Pages

    Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, the American educational system has undergone much transition in response to our changing society. Though there have been many problems raised throughout the years in regard to what our school systems should be teaching our children, there have also been many developments.

    Read More

  • United States and Finland

    1081 Words  | 3 Pages

    Many people do not know Finland’s education system is one of the best in the world. Different nations has turn their attention to Finland in an attempt to figure what this country is doing right academically; one of these nations is the United States of America. However, can the United States benefit from understanding how Finland’s education system works? If so, what is the possible key difference between the two countries, and how much does the difference truly make on the education systems? To analyze the distinction of Finland’s and the United States’ education practices, we must examine the objectives of science, mathematics, and reading. To recognize the impact of the different objectives, if any, we will evaluate the scores from the Program for International Student Assessment.

    Read More

  • It's Time to Get Rid of Standardized Tests

    1416 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Horace Mann And John Dewey: Movers And Shakers Of Education

    920 Words  | 2 Pages

    This required each state to develop a set of standards that each child would need to know in math and reading. The NCLB also required almost all of the students to be tested annually throughout elementary and middle school grades (Webb, Metha, Jordan 2013). The act also strived that all students would test at a proficient level by 2014. The impact of this decision was that the government would be more involved than ever before in how a school taught, what the school taught, and the requirements of outcomes. The downside impact of this was that states changed the proficiency levels over the years and there has been inconsistent data given when reported. In a report with control groups it is shown that there were changes before and after implementation of the NCLB (Ladd 2010). With that information one could conclude that the act was successful and should be further pursued along with

    Read More

  • The Differences Between Schools And The United States And How They Are Run

    886 Words  | 2 Pages

    Second example is on page 979, it explains on how American’s all do test constantly in which is similar. But in Finland each individual student in the class room have independent test that are created for themselves. This is also very important since every person in the world, regardless who they are or where they come from can learn things in much more different manner but still receive the same lectures as any other student.

    Read More

  • Perceptions of ESL Teachers

    2395 Words  | 5 Pages

    One of the first calls to standardize education in the United States was a report released by the National Commission on Excellence in Education in 1983 titled ‘A Nation at Risk’. This report spearheaded a nationwide effort to reform education in the United States from teachers’ education to the standards of education. Each Presidential administration has rolled out their own version of how to reform educational standards, but a key reform for English Language Learners was the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001 under the Bush Administration. This act was a reform of the earlier Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) from the Clinton Administration.

    Read More

  • How Standardized Testing Effects the Education

    2676 Words  | 6 Pages

    tests were primarily employed as measures of student achievement that could be reported to parents, and as a means of noting state and district trends (Moon 2) . Teachers paid little attention to these tests, which in turn had little impact on curriculum. However, in the continuing quest for better schools and high achieving students, testing has become a central focus of policy and practice. Standardized tests are tests that attempt to present unbiased material under the same, predetermined conditions and with consistent scoring and interpretation so that students have equal opportunities to give correct answers and receive an accurate assessment. The idea is that these similarities allow the highest degree of certainty in comparing result...

    Read More

  • A Significant Issue in Education: Teacher BIAS

    1031 Words  | 3 Pages

    United States Commission on Civil Rights. (2004). Closing the achievement gap: The impact of standards-based education reform on student performance. Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Standardized Testing

    987 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Are test scores a good judge of student competency?

    1170 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...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.).

    Read More

More about Findland's Education System Analysis

Open Document