1. Finnish Phenomena 2012

2. EF Educational Tours 2012

3. Virginia School- University Partnership (VSUP) Educational Delegation
France and Finland 2012

4. VSUP Educational Delegation
School Districts
Albemarle
Charlottesville
Fairfax
Fauquier
Fredericksburg
Gloucester
Middlesex
Prince William
Delegates
(3) College/Univ.
(1) SB Member
(6) Superintendents
(6) Central Office
(7) Principals
(3) Teachers
(3) Retired Educators
(8) Spouses/Guest

5. Additional Delegates from Virginia
Va. Secretary of Education
Va. Commission on Youth
Va. Senate Finance
Va. Board of Education
Va. Home for Girls and Boys
Women Educational Leaders of Va.
(3) VSUP Representatives
(5) EF Staff and Tour Directors
(4) Other professions 55

6. Trip Itinerary November 26-25
Day 1- Travel overnight to Paris Day 2- Arrive in Paris at 2pm- Guided Tour Day 3- Tour Muse’e du Louvre Day 4- Visit OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) Day 5- Fly to Helsinki Day 6- Visit to Hiidenkivi Comprehensive School Day 7- Dr. Pasi Sahlberg at CIMO (Center for International Mobility University of Helsinki/Tour of the Univ. Museum Arppeanum Day 8- Visit to Helsinki Lyceum /Viikki Teacher Training School Day 9- Excursion to Tallinn, Estonia Day 10- Flight home

7. Finnish Phenomena

8. Learning about Finland
“Pasi Sahlberg provides the clearest analysis of how Finland’s schools were able to achieve their world standing during the last three decades.” — Catherine A. Cardno, Teacher’s College Press, 2011
“The book also addresses the role of teachers as well as the links between education reform and other sectors of society, and how smart education policies serve to raise a nation's prosperity and reduce poverty.”
— Linda Darling-Hammond, Charles E. Ducommun
Professor of Education and Co-Director of the
Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education
at Stanford University

10. Top 10 Best Countries in the World
Finland #1
Education
Health
Quality of Life
Economic Dynamism
Political Environment
English.news.cnn

11. What can we learn from Finland?
Global Comparison
United States
Finland
Population
315 Million
1.1 Million
Capital
Washington D.C.
Helsinki
Median Age
37.1 years
42.7 years
Economic Development
7th
3rd
Technological Advancement
5th
Child Health and Well Being
20th
Child Poverty
22nd
4th
Income Inequality Rate
15.9th
5.6th
Corruption Perception
24th
2nd
Unhappiness Index
11th
Global Innovation Index
10th

12. Educational Reform Competition Accountability Standardization Fear
Global Reform
Movement
The
Finnish Way
Competition
Accountability
Standardization
Fear
Collaboration
Responsibility
Customization
Well being

13. What can we learn from the Finnish educational school system?
Finnish children don’t start school until they are 7.
Students take one mandatory standardized test at age 16.
Finland spends around 30 percent less per student than the United States.
93% of Finns graduate from high school.
66% of students go to college- 43% vocational schools
Creativity and problem solving play a central role in the classroom.
Finland promotes the well-being of children.
Every school must have a welfare team to advance child happiness in school, creating a safe, healthy environment for learning.
Class sizes are small.
Students are encouraged to play, have fun and embrace the arts.
Why do we focus on Finland? Jeff Dunn, August 2012
Good school for all, not for some, is the core value that drives education in Finland.

14. Key Facts about the Finnish Phenomenon
Individual schools have curriculum autonomy; individual teachers have classroom autonomy.
Teachers are responsible for developing a curriculum that assesses student progress of virtually every aspect of the children’s educational experience.
Teachers are paid to spend two hours a week on professional development.
Finland has a culture of collaboration between schools, not competition.
Finland has no private schools.
Education emphasis is “equal opportunity to all.”
Finnish culture values childhood independence.
Finnish schools do not assign homework.
Finnish schools have sports, but no sports teams. Competition is not valued.
Finland recruits its teachers from the top 10% of graduates.
All Teachers are required to have a Master’s Degree.
Finnish teachers spend 592 hours per year teaching in class, less than the OECD average of 703 hours.
At least 2 out 5 Finnish school students benefit from some type of special intervention during their secondary schooling.
Teaching has the prestige as that of doctors and lawyers.
The Daily Riff; Be Smarter about Education; 2010

15. Early Childhood Intervention and Education
Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, 2002

16. Center for International Mobility and Cooperation
75% of Students Ages 3-5 are in Day Care
98 % of Students Ages 6 are in Day Care
Pre-School: Ages 6-7
Pre-K Teachers Must Have a Degree as Well
Finland Improved
the Education System
by Focusing on Equity

17. Finland’s Education System
NCEE-Center on International Education Benchmarking
2012

18. Center for International Mobility and Cooperation
Compulsory School in Finland: Ages 7-16 or Grades 1-9
Pre-School is Offered (Half Day)
In Finland, All Movies are Sub-titled (Closed Captioned)
Finland Does not
Have Private Schools
(there are 75 Charter
Schools)

19. Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development
Paris, November 19, 2012

20. Originally founded in 1947 to implement the Marshall Plan and help with the economic reconstruction of Europe, today the OECD promotes economic stability and fights poverty in its member nations.

21. PISA AT A GLANCE
2009 assessment given to ½ million students in 74 countries assessment focused mainly on reading, with additional assessments in math and science.
Tests are designed to measure a student’s ability to extrapolate what they have learned, rather than basic facts. Students must apply what they have learned to real-life situations.
Data is also collected on student backgrounds and the way schools are run.
Tests are a combination of
multiple-choice and open-ended
questions.

22. 2009 PISA RESULTS United States Finland Mean score and rank READING
500 – 14th
536 – 3rd
MATH th
541 – 2nd
SCIENCE th
544 – 1st
Source: OECD (2010), PISA 2009 Results: What Students Know and Can Do: Student Performance in Reading, Mathematics and Science (Volume I), OECD Publishing.
1 2

23. FACTORS IN U.S. PISA RESULTS
Significant variability in reading test performance by region: Northeast – 510, Midwest – 500, West – 486, South – 483.
Variability in performance by socio-economic status.
Has one of the highest expenditure per student rates among OECD countries, but still in middle of the pack.
Factors like smaller class sizes, transportation costs and sports programs make US costs higher.
U.S. one of the few countries where low-performing schools get fewer resources.
© OECD 2010 Strong Performers and
Successful Reformers in Education:
Lessons from PISA for the United States

24. FACTORS IN FINLAND’S PISA RESULTS
Teacher autonomy
National curriculum is merely a framework; teachers use own discretion to plan curriculum.
Emphasis on teaching students how to learn and how to assess their own learning.
Teacher Quality
All teachers have masters degrees.
Selective admissions to teacher training programs: must have top Matriculation exam scores, take a written test, interview. In 2010, 6,600 applicants for 660 spots.
© OECD 2010 Strong Performers and Successful Reformers in Education: Lessons from PISA for the United States

25. More Factors in Finland’s Results
No standardized assessments.
Assessment and accountability is at the teacher and school level.
Equity
Little variation in quality of educational experience among schools in different areas and among different socio-economic levels.
© OECD 2010 Strong Performers and
Successful Reformers in Education:
Lessons from PISA for the United States

26. Average performance of 15-year-olds in reading – extrapolate and apply
High reading performance
Average performance of 15-year-olds in reading – extrapolate and apply
Northeast
Midwest
Science US
Math US
West
South
Here are the results from our last PISA 2006 assessment in science, many of you will be familiar with them. The red area shows you countries that perform below the OECD average, yellow is around the OECD average and the green area are countries doing well by OECD standards.
You see that Finland in Europe, Japan in Asia and Canada in North America do very well internationally and they perform consistently well across all subject areas. And some Canadian provinces do deliver results that are comparable to those of Finland.
Let me highlight one other country, and that is Poland. The reason why I do so is that Poland saw remarkable improvement in its performance on PISA over the last few years. If all countries would be able to boost their average PISA scores by 25 points over the next 20 years - which is less than the most rapidly improving education system in the OECD, Poland, achieved between 2000 and 2006 alone – this could imply an aggregate gain of OECD GDP of USD 115 trillion over the lifetime of the generation born in 2010.
… 17 countries perform below this line
Low reading performance

27. SAMPLE READING QUESTIONS
TAKE THE TEST: SAMPLE QUESTIONS FROM OECD’S PISA ASSESSMENTS - ISBN © OECD 2009

28. High mathematics performance
Average performance of 15-year-olds in mathematics – extrapolate and apply
Here are the results from our last PISA 2006 assessment in science, many of you will be familiar with them. The red area shows you countries that perform below the OECD average, yellow is around the OECD average and the green area are countries doing well by OECD standards.
You see that Finland in Europe, Japan in Asia and Canada in North America do very well internationally and they perform consistently well across all subject areas. And some Canadian provinces do deliver results that are comparable to those of Finland.
Let me highlight one other country, and that is Poland. The reason why I do so is that Poland saw remarkable improvement in its performance on PISA over the last few years. If all countries would be able to boost their average PISA scores by 25 points over the next 20 years - which is less than the most rapidly improving education system in the OECD, Poland, achieved between 2000 and 2006 alone – this could imply an aggregate gain of OECD GDP of USD 115 trillion over the lifetime of the generation born in 2010.
… 21 countries perform below this line
Low mathematics performance

29. TAKE THE TEST: SAMPLE QUESTIONS FROM OECD’S PISA ASSESSMENTS - ISBN 978-92-64-05080-8 - © OECD 2009

30. Average performance of 15-year-olds in science – extrapolate and apply
High science performance
Average performance of 15-year-olds in science – extrapolate and apply
Here are the results from our last PISA 2006 assessment in science, many of you will be familiar with them. The red area shows you countries that perform below the OECD average, yellow is around the OECD average and the green area are countries doing well by OECD standards.
You see that Finland in Europe, Japan in Asia and Canada in North America do very well internationally and they perform consistently well across all subject areas. And some Canadian provinces do deliver results that are comparable to those of Finland.
Let me highlight one other country, and that is Poland. The reason why I do so is that Poland saw remarkable improvement in its performance on PISA over the last few years. If all countries would be able to boost their average PISA scores by 25 points over the next 20 years - which is less than the most rapidly improving education system in the OECD, Poland, achieved between 2000 and 2006 alone – this could imply an aggregate gain of OECD GDP of USD 115 trillion over the lifetime of the generation born in 2010.
… 20 countries perform below this line
Low science performance

31. Lessons From Successful Schools
Attracting high-quality, highly-trained teachers.
A learning system with a constant monitoring of progress, international successes, and anticipation of future challenges.
Coherence of policies and practices: (without excessive control).
Incentives, accountability, knowledge management .
A commitment to education and the belief that competencies can be learned by all children.
Clear ambitious goals that are shared across the system– emphasis on metacognitive instruction.
Investing resources where they can make the most difference.
© OECD 2010 Strong Performers and
Successful Reformers in Education:
Lessons from PISA for the United States

32. Finnish Educational System
Typical Finnish School is Approximately 400 Students
Parents are paid to Stay Home with their Kids: Ages 0-3.
School Board Composition: Chair, principal, two parents, a teacher, a school staff member and two students.

33. Finnish Educational System
Languages: Languages of Concentration-Finnish, Swedish and English (other languages: French, German, Italian, and Spanish)
School System Emphasis:
in the US, there is an integration of sports in schools;
in Finland, sports are
offered as clubs after school,
completely separate

34. Finnish Educational System
Culture and Emphasis of the School System:
US focuses on Competition, Standards and Accountability
Finland focuses on Cooperation, Equality, and Individualization
Compulsory
Education:
Grades 1-9;
Grade 10 and
thereafter is
Optional

35. Finnish Educational System
Secondary Education:
After Grade Nine, 55% of students matriculate into secondary school (upon acceptance)
40% Attend a Vocational/Apprentice Training
There is a Matriculation Exam to Enter College
Typical Age of a Matriculating College Student is Approximately 20 years

36. CIMO On November 22, 2012, the Delegation Visited CIMO
CIMO: Center for International Mobility and Cooperation
Dr. Pasi Sahlberg:
Director of CIMO at
the Finnish Ministry
of Education and Culture

37. Center for International Mobility and Cooperation
Finnish Systems of Education
Ministry of Education and 300 Educational Municipalities
The Ministry of Education Develops the Curriculum (monitors and evaluates as well)

38. Center for International Mobility and Cooperation
CIMO: Promotes International Awareness and Assists in the Study Abroad Effort of Foreign Educational Entities
Costs of Education: All Levels of Education in Finland are Free (Higher Learning as well)
Duties of the Ministry of Education:
Legislation
Policy Development
Funding for Education

39. Center for International Mobility and Cooperation
Educational Reform Began in the 1970s
At that time schools were primarily private
In 1970s, Most Students Lived in Poverty
School Reform was the Main Catalyst for Economic Improvement

43. Center for International Mobility and Cooperation
Reading on Grade Level Makes no Sense to the Finns; students are Evaluated Based on Individual Potential
Finnish Instructors are Trained to Know Content, but also must learn about Child Development
Finland’s Educational
System is Highly Individualized
“Our Students vs. My Students”

44. VIIKKI TEACHER TRAINING SCHOOL

45. VIKKI BACKGROUND Established in 1869.
Affiliated with the University of Helsinki.
One of 13 Teacher-Training Schools in Finland.
“Maintain a high standard in curriculum design and teaching while developing diverse methods for practice teaching and the use of educational technology.”

46. Building Current building erected in 2003.
Classrooms grouped in subject-specific units around a common area.
2 auditoriums, library, gymnasium, cafeteria.

47. POPULATION STUDENTS: Elementary school: 421 Secondary School: 256
Upper Secondary School: 256
TEACHERS: 102
UNIVERSITY TRAINEES: 200
OTHER STAFF: 30

48. DECIMAL LESSON – STUDENTS ROTATE THROUGH STATIONS

49. 6th Grade Math Station

50. TEACHER SCHEDULE Time Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
8:00-8:45
*Finnish (Mother Tongue)
Religion
9:00-9:45
Religion (4th Grade)
Religion (1st Grade)
Handicrafts
9:45-10:30
Finnish
History
Math (1/2 class in English lesson)
10:45-11:30
Phys. Ed.
Art
12:00-12:45
Physics/
Chemistry
Math (1/2 class in French Lesson)
Math
1:15-2:00
Biology/
Geometry
*Finnish
2:00-2:45

51. CAFETERIA

52. LIBRARY AND PLAYGROUND

53. STUDENT STORAGE

54. STUDENT TEACHERS

55. MAKING GEOBOARDS

56. Elementary Classroom

57. TEACHING STUDENTS SELF-ASSESSMENT

58. HIIDENKIVI COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOL

59. HIIDENKIVI BACKGROUND
Founded in 2004
760 students
65 teachers
Grades 1-9, ages 7-16
Upper school (7th-9th) from 2 local primary schools.
10% non-native speakers
10% special needs

60. PEDAGOGICAL PRINCIPLES
Inclusive
Focus on learning how to learn
Cooperative learning and co-teaching
Collaborative learning
Pupil involvement in curriculum
Green Flag School (Environmentally conscious)
60 minute classes (4-6 per day)

61. STUDENT GUIDES

62. CLASSROOM PODS

63. CLASSROOMS

64. LIBRARY AND PROJECT ROOM

65. HALLWAYS

66. ARTS CLASSES

68. SCHOOL IMPRESSIONS
Overall, the schools were warm, inviting environments where students were engaged in learning.
Heavy emphasis on the arts in addition to academic subjects.
Emphasis on free time between classes and student independence.

69. Pasi Sahlberg’s Recommendations for Educational Reform in the United States

70. #1
More
time to play!

71. #2 Reevaluate our Standardized Testing Years and Procedures

72. #3
Provide Vocational opportunities for
students