By now, most people interested in education and international comparisons among countries is aware both that Finland performs very well on such comparisons while the US does not - although a large part of the difference is because we have far more economic inequity.
Pasi Sahlberg is internationally known for his work on education, both in Finland, where among other things he was a former Director General of CIMO (Centre for International Mobility and Cooperation) in Helsinki. He is currently a visiting Professor of Practice at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education in Cambridge, MA, USA (where he has been kind enough to invite me to be a guest lecturer in the middle of April). He is author of Finnish Lessons: What can the world learn from educational change in Finland?
Sahlberg often presents at conferences around the United States. Yesterday he spoke at a conference in Denver about opting out of tests. As part of that presentation he had a power point presentation, one that was very similar if not identical to what he offered two weeks ago when he presented at Teaching & Learning 2014, the annual conference of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (I will be writing about this conference shortly).
I thought I would share the powerpoint from yesterday. So take a look at this powerpoint and perhaps offer some reactions?
Peace.