What Makes Finnish Kids So Smart?

[Ikutiera]

High-school students here rarely get more than a half-hour of homework a night. They have no school uniforms, no honor societies, no valedictorians, no tardy bells and no classes for the gifted. There is little standardized testing, few parents agonize over college and kids don't start school until age 7.
Yet by one international measure, Finnish teenagers are among the smartest in the world. They earned some of the top scores by 15-year-old students who were tested in 57 countries. American teens finished among the world's C students even as U.S. educators piled on more homework, standards and rules. Finnish youth, like their U.S. counterparts, also waste hours online. They dye their hair, love sarcasm and listen to rap and heavy metal. But by ninth grade they're way ahead in math, science and reading -- on track to keeping Finns among the world's most productive workers.

What Makes Finnish Kids So Smart? - WSJ.com

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[Errigal]

Here's the website of the organization which runs these tests:

PISA

[Ioannis]

Read this early on iSteve

Steve Sailer\'s iSteve Blog: WSJ wonders: Why Is Finland So Finlandy?

In 2005, the Washington Post sent two reporters to Finland for several weeks to find out why Finland has "the world's best educational system, produces such talented musicians and architects, and has more cell phones per capita than Japan and America."

Sitting here in my pajamas in California, I could have saved the Washington Post all the expense. The most important reason why Finland is so Finlandy is because it is full of Finns.

According to the CIA World Factbook, the population is 93.4 percent Finnish. The biggest minority group at 5.7 percent is ... Swedes. Then come Russians at 0.4 percent and Estonians at 0.2 percent. Roma (Gypsies) make up 0.2 percent and the Sami (Laplanders) are 0.1 percent.

Finland maintains its borders and thus it can maintain a governmental and social system well suited to its unique population.

[Weltschmerz]

Finland maintains its borders and thus it can maintain a governmental and social system well suited to its unique population.

She did, but she doesn't anymore, I'm afraid.

[Heimdallr]

.
Finland's teens score extraordinarily high on an international test. American educators are trying to figure out why.

Finnish teenagers are among the smartest in the world. They earned some of the top scores by 15-year-old students who were tested in 57 countries. American teens finished among the world's C students even as U.S. educators piled on more homework, standards and rules.

The Wall Street Journal >>> What Makes Finnish Kids So Smart?


Ymmersta school principal
Hannele Frantsi

[donTomas]

Enrichment by crossbreeding.

[Routasydän]

Originally Posted by Ikutiera

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I love it how the program uses a map of Finland highlighting the areas ceded to the Soviet Union.