Testing students is a failure

July 21 2011, 4:23pm

A new documentary looks at the amazing education system in Finland: There is no domestic testing except a very quiet auditing program to test demographic samples of kids; not for accountability, not for public consumption, and not for comparison across schools. The fascinating thing is that because they have created such a high level of professionalism, they can trust their teachers. Their motto is “Trust Through Professionalism.” The difference between the highest performing school in Finland and the lowest performing school in Finland is less than four percent, and that’s without any testing at all. and This is the antithesis of what we’re hearing about in the United States in terms of so-called education “reform.” When you hear the debate in the United States over education, the idea is that we need to demonize teachers and that the real way to fix our education system is to simply test the hell out of kids. Why do you think there is such a difference between the attitudes of our two countries? First of all I want to point out that Finland is rated among the highest in the world in innovation, entrepreneurship and creativity. It’s not your grandfather’s socialist country in any sense of the word. The way teachers are demonized in the US is why I outright laughed in people’s faces who suggested I be an English teacher with my degree. No way in hell. And now? Triple no way in hell I’d ever collect a paycheck where the very act of my drawing a paycheck is questioned by baying assholes who vent bile at the very existence of teachers and champion ignorance. Finland seems to have figured it out. Oh, and as for teachers being overpaid. When compared to successful places like that, here in the US they’re underpaid. Because why would you want to overpay the people responsible for molding your future minds? Also: The difference between the highest performing school in Finland and the lowest performing school in Finland is less than four percent… Can you imagine the vitality of the US with that kind of education system backing it up? Fuck, what a wasted opportunity.