Posts Tagged ‘Programme for International Student Assessment’

schools in Estonia

Q&A: School success in Estonia

Rebecca Vukovic Oct 11, 2018

https://w

Use of students’ mobile phones during the lesson, when instructed properly, can be an effective tool when learning foreign languages and many other subjects.

Santiago, P., et al. (2016), OECD Reviews of School Resources: Estonia 2016, OECD Reviews of School Resources, OECD Publishing, Paris, http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264251731-en.

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more on Finland Phenomenon in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=finland+phenomenon

US and Finland Phenomenon

Maybe Instead of Finland, We Should Be More Like Massachusetts?

https://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/finding_common_ground/2016/12/maybe_instead_of_finland_we_should_be_more_like_massachusetts.html
Finland consistently ranks high in the PISA results for many reasons. (What is PISA? Click here to read a guest blog written by Andreas Schleicher who is the Director of PISA). They don’t push curriculum that isn’t age appropriate, their teachers are highly qualified and the field of education is respected as one of the top professions.
Additionally, Finland has a much more flexible education system than the US. The U.S. has constant carrot and stick programs as well as a great deal of accountability and mandates. Teachers, leaders and students in Finland feel as though they have a voice in their schooling.
The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (MDOE) website provides the results from the recent PISA.
family involvement and wealth as the most important factors, many of the articles focusing on the strength of the Massachusetts education system also state that there is an achievement gap they have where their impoverished students are concerned.
the issue of over-testing students, and the pressures of standardized testing.
in the long run, we as a nation might want to pay attention to Massachusetts because their education system is consistently strong, and they treat education and their teachers with respect. Although Finland is a great country to visit and learn from, it seems as though we really don’t have to go that far to see educational greatness because we have it within our own country too.
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more on finland phenomenon in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2018/04/24/resources-on-finland-phenomenon/

education reform Finland

Finland schools: Subjects scrapped and replaced with ‘topics’ as country reforms its education system

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/finland-schools-subjects-are-out-and-topics-are-in-as-country-reforms-its-education-system-10123911.html

Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) rankings https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pisa/

Subject-specific lessons – an hour of history in the morning, an hour of geography in the afternoon – are already being phased out for 16-year-olds in the city’s upper schools. They are being replaced by what the Finns call “phenomenon” teaching – or teaching by topic. For instance, a teenager studying a vocational course might take “cafeteria services” lessons, which would include elements of maths, languages (to help serve foreign customers), writing skills and communication skills.

The reforms reflect growing calls in the UK – not least from the Confederation of British Industry and Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary Tristram Hunt – for education to  promote character, resilience and communication skills, rather than just pushing children through “exam factories”. (http://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/mar/20/labour-calls-time-on-exam-factory-approach-to-schooling)
(My Note/Question: so UK is ready to scrap what US pushes even harder with the STEM idea?)

More on education in Finland and its education in this IMS blog:

https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/?s=finland