<p>Leader06 - I don’t think the Finnish education system would work in the USA at all. Finland is a small country with a homoegeneous population. The USA is huge and diverse and there’s cultural differences between Americans and the Finnish. </p>
<p>Overall, American public HS’s aren’t great. In some states, they don’t teach evolution in Biology classes! College students can’t distinguish between They’re, There and Their, students don’t learn basic geography, many can’t point to the US on a map. Public education here is a joke here compared to many nations. Take away standardized testing and I’d be scared to see how much worse it gets.</p>
<p>Finnish students don’t start school until age 7, but their parents teach them at home. I volunteer at public elementary schools in NYC where many students barely speak English, their parents are immigrants. These kids already struggle as it is, their parents often don’t have time to teach them or aren’t well educated themselves.The USA has a huge gap between rich and the poor. Under the Finnish education system, the well-off students would thrive as usual, the lower class students would be as a disadvantage. Studies have shown students who go to Nursery School or Pre-K already have an advantage over those who don’t, I think starting at age 5 for Kindergarten is a benefit. Culture plays a large role. Japanese students do very well, I believe they go to class 6 days a week and their culture places a higher value on education. What works for one country doesn’t always work for another. </p>
<p>I would love see less standardized testing in schools, but I think the system would only get worse without it. I go to NYU, a good college which attracts students from around the country, and I’m shocked at how ignorant some of my classmates are about certain things - they never learned about Evolution, some think we’re in New England, some couldn’t point to NY State on a map of the USA, they struggle in classes easier than the ones I took in HS - what the hell did they do in school for 12 years?!</p>
<p>In my opinion, a system with lots of freedom like the Finnish one is great for Finland, but I personally don’t think it would work in the USA.</p>