Forty years ago, Finland was a small country with ordinary public schools. Today, Finland is still small but no one calls Finland’s public schools ordinary anymore.
In 2000, the Finns surprised the world when their 15yearolds scored at the top of a closelywatched international exam called the PISA, the Program for International Student Assessment. Finland has stayed near the top ever since, while the US scores around the middle.
Pasi Sahlberg, an official of Finland’s Ministry of Education and Culture, is in Seattle this week to share the story of Finland’s success, and what states like Washington can learn from it.
Sahlberg’s message, although he is too polite to put it so directly: Stop testing so much. Trust teachers more. Give less homework. Shorten the school day.
On Tuesday, in a room filled with teachers, principals, professors, schoolboard members and policy makers, Sahlberg joked about the Finns’ reputation for being a quiet, humble people. When Finland hit the top of the PISA, he said, the biggest disbelievers were Finns.
More seriously, he said, Finland never set out to create the world’s top school system. Instead, he said, the country decided in the 1970s that it wanted to ensure that a student’s success didn’t depend on family background.
To achieve that goal, Finland relied on cooperation among teachers and schools, rather than on competition.
Rather than judges teachers and schools based on test scores, he said, Finland puts trust in its teachers and principals. Teachers develop the curriculum(课程) in Finland, and design their own tests. There are no national tests, except one at the end of high school.
That’s just the start. Along with a shorter school day, Finnish students don’t even start school until they are 7 years old. Many primary schools have a policy against giving homework.
But Finland, he said, succeeded in part by adapting ideas from the US and other countries. And those countries, he said, can learn from Finland, too.
What might be the author’s purpose in writing the passage?
A.To introduce a Finnish official. |
B.To share the story of Finland’s success in education. |
C.To compare the education systems of Finland and the US. |
D.To ask the US to improve its education. |
People first learned Finland’s success in education from ________.
A.its ordinary public schools |
B.its international exchange students |
C.lectures given by Pasi Sahlberg |
D.its students’ performance in an International exam |
Which of the following contributes to Finland’s success in education?
a. Giving students fewer tests
b. Giving teachers more trust.
c. Evaluating students’ family background.
d. Creating the world’s top school system.
e. Starting school late.
A.a, b, e |
B.c, d, e |
C.a, b, c |
D.b, c, d |
What Pasi Sahlberg says in the passage suggests that ________.
A.children should start school as early as possible |
B.the US education system is still the most advanced |
C.competition among teachers is harmful to education |
D.it’s necessary to set up a national curriculum |