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Monday, December 27, 2010

Queens Teacher: What Deformers Can Learn From Finland

Queens Teacher: What Deformers Can Learn From Finland

What Deformers Can Learn From Finland

Learning from Finland
How one of the world’s top educational performers turned around

By Pasi Sahlberg
December 27, 2010

IF AMERICANS harbored any doubts about their eroded global edge, the recent release of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development’s fourth international comparison of educational performance should rattle the nation from its “We’re No. 1’’ complacency. The latest Program for International Student Assessment study revealed that, although the United States made some modest gains, it is lagging behind many other developed nations in the ability of its 15-year-olds. The country isn’t flunking: like France, England, and Sweden, learning here has stagnated at below-average levels. That “gentleman’s C’’ should be a call to change course.

Take heart. Finland, one of the world’s top educational performers according to the last PISA study and