Secrets of Finland's Education

[BigmanPigman]

3. I taught first and 6th grades and this is quite true.

In fact I had to "sneak teach" subjects like civics, art, music, etc. since we had to "teach to the test". That is what everything is about...even in first grade. Little 6 year old kids can't fill in those bubble scan tron forms at all let alone figure out how to fill in a correct answer. It is all about test scores with administrators and parents. The poor teachers have no choice and we HATE it! The administrators would surprise teachers to make sure that you were teaching a certain subject on a certain page at a certain time each day. If they "caught you" not doing that you were in big trouble. It is all reading, writing and math...nothing else. TEACH TO THE TEST!!! These are 6 year old kids! I am 100% serious. I spent much more time grading tests and homework than planning and grading any lessons. Schools are based on money$$$$$$$ and that is what each student is...money toward the school from the state. If a parent wants their not well behaved and not academically successful child to advance in public school they threaten to take them to a charter school and the school loses money and the teacher is told to give the student inflated grades and allow them to misbehave so that the school gets more money. Parents and colleges are all part of the problem too. It is all about money and do not let them tell you otherwise.