Reaching the Finnish Line
We often hear that students in other countries are leaving ours in the dust. That fact, in turn, becomes the rationale for all manner of reforms.
But reformers often pay scant attention to what those countries actually do to get where they are. Are we slipping in the rankings? Quick--institute merit pay! Grease the rails for alt cert programs! Open more charter schools! That oughta do it!
These may be worthy goals to pursue in their own right, but they won't be enough to close the gap between us and our high-flying competitors.
Linda Darling-Hammond draws a much broader set of lessons from countries that succeed. This 9-minute video from Edutopia sums them up nicely.
[The image above is a link that will take you off site]
Common, high academic standards. Excellent (and often free) teacher preparation. Strong and sustained support for staff. Time in the schedule for staff to work together. And--crucially--very good assessments that don't knock everything else off course. Darling-Hammond finds all of these things in countries that routinely trounce us on tests like PISA and TIMSS.
She concedes that we can't take these comparisons too far. We can't simply transplant practices from Finland to Fargo and assume that they'll take. But it seems insane to think we can achieve Finnish results while directly defying Finnish practice.
Take assessments, for example. Here's how Darling-Hammond describes what happens in the countries we envy:
They have school-based assessments as well as external assessments that are brought together in the accountability system that include things like research and inquiry, scientific investigations, extensive writing. Most of these countries do not use multiple-choice testing to any great degree. Some don't use it at all.
Kids are always having to write, analyze, explain their views, produce data, analyze data, both in the classroom and on the assessments.
Needless to say, the tests we now use for accountability purposes don't exactly rise to that level. It's hard to imagine how we'll ever pull abreast of other countries if the tests we use to measure our progress drive us in the wrong direction.
There are some reasons to be hopeful. There's work afoot to set common high standards. We're hearing at least a rhetorical commitment to better tests.
I'm less sanguine about support for staff, which doesn't seem high on the nation's policy hit parade. If there's something we should have learned by now, it's that the best-laid reform plans will go astray if we adopt them piecemeal.
(Hat tip to the Teacher Leadership Today blog)
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let's not forget that they
let's not forget that they also recruit teachers from the top 10 percent of their population.
Good point, anonymous. I
Good point, anonymous. I should have included that point. Teaching in Finland, Singapore and elsewhere is a prestigious occupation that lures people from the law and medicine.That prestige also contributes to a climate that promotes professional growth.
Recruiting from the top ten
Recruiting from the top ten percent--I love the thinking behind the concept, but am always curious about how that "top ten percent" is determined. Students who achieved the highest scores in yet another round of standardized tests, like the SATs?
Couldn't we just decide that we want to select teacher candidates with the greatest aptitude for effective teaching: a combination of strong test scores, verbal proficiency, the ability to represent content in multiple dimensions, a passion for a subject, a strong desire to work with particular groups of students, plus potential for leadership?
I'd also add a commitment to staying in the classroom, and a belief that teaching is a worthy career, not a stopgap adventure. Once we're past the idea that teaching is something anyone can do, recruiting the best and brightest will be easier, and teacher quality will rise sharply.
The one aspect of Finnish success that hit me hardest was the fact that they begin formal reading instruction when students are 7 years old. At seven years old--second grade-- many American students are in their third year of reading instruction, and those who are not proficient have already been identified as needing remedial help. This identification as a "low" reader is not lost on children.
"Couldn't we just decide that
"Couldn't we just decide that we want to select teacher candidates with the greatest aptitude for effective teaching: a combination of strong test scores, verbal proficiency, the ability to represent content in multiple dimensions, a passion for a subject, a strong desire to work with particular groups of students, plus potential for leadership?"
Nancy--I suspect that this is just the kind of person who goes into teaching in countries where teaching is a prestigious occupation. When I was in graduate school for literature, far too many people thought that a passion for the subject would disqualify a person to teach in K-12. That was considered a waste of talent. Shocking.
If I could ask President
If I could ask President Obama just one question, I'd ask him why he didn't choose Professor Darling-Hammond to be his Secretary of Education. If we had the leadership of someone who has devoted her entire life to education, then just maybe we'd get somewhere.
(Of course, I know the answer: politics. Too bad for our students!)
I would have the same
I would have the same question. Check out the petition link to have Arne Duncan removed. http://www.petitiononline.com/2010abcd/
I think we have to give
I think we have to give Secretary Duncan credit for supporting the Common Core State Standards initiative and calling for a much better round of assessments. Those are clearly in line with Darling-Hammond's suggestions.
Good points all around.
Good points all around. Whenever I have attended a professional conference that mentions data from other countries, our teachers/presenters are quick to point out "that we work with different kids than Finland does"...and then shifts the conversation to something else. I wonder if perhaps we're afraid to try what other nations are doing because we are convinced that our situations are totally different?
I agree that there is a massive "prestige gap" with American teachers. Certainly many of my peers were surprised that I decided to go into teaching (even if I only did it for a little while), as they perceive it to be a profession for people who couldn't hack Med/Law/Business/Journalism/etc schools.
After having taught for only a little while, I'll happily smack the next person who says that in the head...but that feeling is out there.
Great insightful article!
Great insightful article! Nowadays we hear so much about the "global economy" and preparing our students with 21st century skills. Part of this needs to be a focus on global collaboration. How are we educating all of our students worldwide? Are we close to the 2015 U.N. Millennium Goal of universal education? (See http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/education.shtml) What lessons can be learned from one country? Do education leaders worldwide communicate? Reform for the sake of reform definitely has to change. High standards, excellent teacher preparation, support, time, and good assessment models is the framework that has been laid out in this article. Is this the direction all countries are moving towards?
Kevin Simpson
KDSL-Know.Do.Serve.Learn
kdsl.wordpress.com
Twitter:@KDSL07
Kevin--thanks for reminding
Kevin--thanks for reminding us of the potential for international collaboration. We get some of that through the OECD structure, but not much. As for determining
"the direction all countries are moving towards," that's a tough thing to determine. Differences between countries--cultural, social economic, etc.--require some degree of difference in approach. That said, Darling-Hammond has been able to pull out some compelling common points that warrant further investigation.
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