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Liam Childers

Dr. Angela Mitchell

UWRT 1104 - 040

20 November, 2017

US School Systems versus Finnish School System

The American school systems are far from perfect, every year when countries get rated on the

performance of their school systems the US consistently ranks in the dead middle every year.

However there is one country that manages to make the top of the list every year, that country is

Finland. My topic to explore is what makes the US and Finland school systems so different, and

why is Finland's system so successful?

A main difference in the two school systems is testing. The American school system loves to test

their students, some schools begin to test their students as early as early as 1rst or 2nd grade.

This is due to the no child left behind act that mandates all school to give standardized test to the

stents to measure the school's performance. A main issue with our system is that we do not have

a centralized educational system. What that means is that the Federal government will say to the

states you have to teach these subjects by the time the students graduate. The states then

determine when to teach it, what to teach from each subject, and to how rigorous the subject will

be. This translate into the following scenario, the state of Maryland might decide to teach

biology in the 11th grade and chemistry in the 12th grade, however the state of Virginia might

decide to teach chemistry before biology and in the 9th grade, then teach biology in the 11th

grade. While this doesn't seem like a big deal, it does have a slight impact. Most students will

take their standardized tests around their junior year of highschool, so the when two students
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from Maryland and Virginia go to take the same standardized test at the same time, the student in

Virginia is almost guaranteed to do better on any chemistry based questions than the Maryland

student would because the student from Maryland isn't scheduled to take chemistry until next

year after they have already taken the test. In Finland the, their federal government controls the

every single aspect of education, from when a subject will be taken to how hard the subject will

be. On top of that, no matter where you go in the country each grade level will be learning the

exact same thing at the exact same time, thats because their education is centralized. As far as

how education is controlled there are very clear distinctions between the two, but testing is where

the differences really start to show.

In America, testing for students can begin as early as kindergarten. From that moment onward

tests only progress to get harder and and harder every year. By the time a student becomes a third

grader they start taking a mandated test called the EOG, End Of Grade exam. Passing the EOG

determines whether or not a student can progress to the next year, this exam is repeated in the

fourth grade and fifth grade as well. From there students will reach middle school where they

will take the EOC, End OF Course exam after each grade level and the process will repeat all the

way until high school. In high school is where they exams really start to hit. You will have a

state mandated final exam for every class you take in high school. Also, if a student decides to

take an AP ( Advance Placement ) class, which is a college level class taken in highschool, they

will also have the opportunity to test for college credit if the take the AP exam for that class.

When a student becomes a junior it will be time for them to start taking standardized testing like

SAT or the ACT. In the US testing is the way of life for all the students here starting at a really

young age. In Finland however, a student will not start taking high stakes test until their first year
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of highschool, thats 15 years of schooling before students in Finland take their first test. When

asked why students test so late in their schooling (Doyle) replied Let children be children. His

argument was that during the first 15 years of schooling the students are still just kids, and they

need time to be kids. They shouldn't have the pressure of a high stakes test at the age of 11 when

they still go outside and play. Testing is a way to measure to the progress of students and

schools. However, testing is also used as a way to compare students to other students.

The SAT and ACT defines students as a number, not a person. That number then determines the

university we are eligible able to attend, scholarships we are allowed to receive, and many more

things. From there on GPA, testing scores, and class rank will begin to define who you are as an

individual to universities. In the US students are told about the SAT from the moment they start

middle school. The issue with this is that US students spend the next 7 years of their primary

schooling stressing over a test that is years away. States give their students many formal tests to

prepare for the main standardized tests, but the states tend to overlook one dramatic flaw.

Students in school at the end of the day are just kids. They play video games and watch tv just

like other kids their age. A sixteen year old should not have the stress of a test that will determine

of they can get into their dream school or not. Finland on the other hand only has one formal

standardized test that students have to take. Students in Finland still have to take tests made by

teachers at their given school just like in the US, that doesnt change. What does change,

however, is the one standardized test they have to take and what the results of that test mean. The

test students take in finland is called the National Matriculation Examination. This test is high

stakes exam that only determines one thing, if the student is ready for college or not. Students in

Finland only have to pass the exam to be qualified for college and to graduate from their high
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school. While it can be argued that it doesnt show the overall knowledge of a student, the test

also does not define them and determine what schools they are worthy for. Most of the

differences however stem back to the teachers.

In the US teachers are some of the most underpaid state workers, with a national average of

$36,141 per year. On top of that some teachers bring different attitudes to their jobs. For

example, a teacher could be totally uninterested with their job and hand the students a textbook

from 1995 and have the students learn outdated information from there and acting extremely

annoyed when a student asks a question. On the other hand a teacher could give exciting and

engaging lectures, grasping the students attention through jokes and videos, about the crusades

on the islamic nation, which is arguably the most boring topics taught in school. In the end

however those two teachers would be paid about the same even though one cares about their job

then the other. In Finland, teachers are among the topic respected professions. They are seen as

the people who will further the education of generations to come, even the way teachers look at

their profession is different from the US. Finnish teachers often see it as a personal responsibility

if a student fails a class or doesn't understand material, and they will do whatever it takes to

makes sure the student is ready for whatever comes next. They nurture the students with

education and foundational skills, all while making sure students still have the time to go home

and be kids as a priority.

In short, there are many differences that can be seen between the two systems. The educational

system is very non centralized and leaves the education to the states while Finland has the same

education throughout the entire country. Testing in the US involves a plethora of test
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standardized and teacher made while Finland has one standardized test that students take in high

school. Teachers in the US treat their job as nothing more than a means to get paid while Finnish

teachers treat their jobs more of a lifestyle. No system is necessarily better than the other

however. Culture plays a big role in why societies do things the way they do. So what make

work for Finland may not work for us because in America itself there are so many different

cultures that no one generalized system could cover. What is certain is that year after year

Finland consistently stay among the top of the nations when ranking the education of their

students.

Sources

Doyle, William. Why Finland Has the Best Schools. Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times,

18 Mar. 2016.

Why Are Finlands Schools Successful? Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 1 Sept.

2011.

Brown, Arlene K., and Karen W. Knight. School Boundary and Student Assignment Procedures

in Large, Urban, Public School Systems. Education and Urban Society. Sage Journals, 01 Aug.

2005. Web. 25 Sept. 2017.

Schneider, Jack. "America's Not-So-Broken Education System." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media

Company, 22 June 2016. Web. 25 Sept. 2017.