Author: Finnish Education Successes Based On Equity

In an article in the Atlantic (12/30), author Anu Partanen writes that education observers who point to Finland as an example for US education policy are "missing the point," noting that "Finland's national education system has been receiving particular praise." Partanen notes that a recent visit to the US by Finnish education official Pasi Sahlberg drew widespread attention, but "it wasn't clear that Sahlberg's message was actually getting through." According to Sahlberg, American education officials are "consistently obsessed" with such issues as student tracking through standardized testing, teacher accountability, merit pay, school choice, and the participation of the private sector, none of which are used in Finland. "Decades ago," Partanen writes, "when the Finnish school system was badly in need of reform, the goal of the program that Finland instituted, resulting in so much success today, was never excellence. It was equity."