Joseph Spinetto

Randolph, Kelli, and Dylinda Wilson-Younger. "Is No Child Left Behind Effective For

All Students?" Parents Don't Think So." Online Submission (2012): ERIC. Web. 24 Mar.

2013.

In this article, the authors describe the pros and cons to the No Child Left Behind Act

implemented by the Bush Administration in 2001. The first fact the article gives is how the

“NCLB requires any schools receiving any types of federal funding to administer some type

of standardized test to their students every year” (Randolph 1). The purpose of this is to

measure the success of the students and the school as a whole, and to make sure the

schools are staying on task by meeting the requirements set by the state. The hope of this

program was is to have all students scoring proficiently by the 2013 – 2014 year. How close

are we to reaching this goal? Have we made any progress at all with this program? If the

schools don’t meet the AYP (adequate yearly progress) two years in a row they are labeled

“in need of improvement.” When this happens they are provided technical assistance,

parents may choose to send their students to a new school and the school must come up

with a plan for improvement over the next two years. If it declines for three years, the

school must provide free tutoring and education services to the students. How hard are

these goals, and how do they vary from state to state? How often does a school need this?

“The NCLB has been praised, but mostly criticized. Many parents have praised the

NCLB, because it allowed them to get their children out of failing schools and move them to

better ones” (Randolph 2). The NCLB Act has also provided resources such as computers to

the classroom and improved test scores in multiple schools. What is the technology in the

classrooms like in Finland? The bad parts of the NCLB Act include schools arguing that the

goals set forth by the states are unattainable and the proper funding is not available either.

“In an effort to improve test scores, many states have cut out their arts programs and in

some cases have cut “nonessential” subjects such as social studies, foreign language, health,

and science” (Randolph 3). How many of these classes does Finland provide? “President

Obama along with the Secretary of Education also initiated “Race to the Top” as a part of

the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act” (Randolph 4). The article did not talk much

about this, but it could be something I can use in my paper as a future outlook in America.

This source is credible because of the authors and the nature of the statistics given.

The scholar that wrote the article has a PHD and had the help of a colleague. It was

published in 2012, which makes it very relevant. It showed both sides of the argument very

well and did not favor one side. It gives the reasons the parents like the NCLB as well as the

reasons the parents don’t like the NCLB. At the end it has a works cited page. The page

includes government documents and other published articles.

I plan on using this article to show how the U.S. system has been in the past decade

and before. I can use this in the government intervention section of my final research

paper. It has been revised since it was implemented with the American Recovery and

Reinvestment Act by the Obama administration. I will need to find an article or two about

the new Act in place.

Sahlberg, Pasi. "Lessons From Finland: Where The Country's Education System Rose

To The Top In Just A Couple Decades." Education Digest: Essential Readings Condensed For

Quick Review 77.3 (2011): 18-24. ERIC. Web. 24 Mar. 2013.

This article from the Education Digest is about the Finnish educational system. It

gives most of the success to the teachers and the process they have to go through to be

teachers, but there are other factors mentioned as well. “Today, three of five young Finns

enroll in and 50% complete state-funded higher education after upper secondary school”

(Pasi 1). How does this compare to the U.S.? One interesting thing stated throughout the

article was how the Finnish system does not employ external standardized testing to drive

the performance of schools or to inspect the schools and teachers. This is the opposite of

how the American system works. The Finns devote lots of attention to personalized

learning and creativity. “The progress of each student is judged more against his or her

individual development and abilities are seen as a responsibility of the school, not external

assessors” (Pasi 8). This is also the opposite of America. The Finland system uses personal

judgment rather than statistical indicators.

“Teaching is consistently the most admired profession in opinion polls of high

school graduates” (Pasi 2). Teaching is a hard profession to pursue though, suggests the

article; “5,000 prospective teachers are selected from about 20,000 applicants” (Pasi 2).

After the selection process, the hard part still has yet to come. “All teachers in Finnish

primary, middle and high schools must hold a masters degree; preschool and kindergarten

teachers must hold a bachelor’s degree” (Pasi 3). These are very high expectations to hold,

and are not matched by most American teachers. It takes five to seven years for a teacher to

complete their master’s degree. Once the teacher obtains their degree and position, it is

usually a lifetime job; “an official estimate suggests that only 10% - 15% of teachers leave

the profession during the course of their career” (Pasi 6). How does this compare to the U.S.

expectancy of a teacher’s time in their position?

The credibility of this source is very good. It is from a known magazine called the

Education Digest. It is from a series called the Essential Readings Condensed for Review.

The study was done well with many facts about teachers and how they get to the positions

they are at. It does not show preference, only facts.

I plan on using this in my paper as one of my main sources. I will use it in the section

where I write about teachers in the various educational systems. There is an abundance of

quotes in this paper to incorporate into the final research paper.

Gokce, Asiye Toker, and Cevat Celep. "A Comparison Of Educational Systems Of

Turkey, Malta, Ireland, Spain, Sweden, Portugal, Finland, Greece, Belgium, The Netherlands

And Denmark." Online Submission (2011): ERIC. Web. 24 Mar. 2013.

This article compares the differences between Finland and other European

countries. It gives a better understanding of the Finnish system from beginning to end in

respect to economic, social and educational boundaries. In Finland, 57% for primary and

secondary education is from the government while 43% is from municipalities. What is the

rate in America? In Finland students enter compulsory education at the age of seven. When

they enter compulsory education the goal is to “teach children to carry a sense of

responsibility, independence, creativity, peaceful relations with people and be compatible

relationship with Finnish society, and to set a good relationship between school and

parents” (Gokce and Celep 6). Another interesting fact pointed out about Finland is how

close enrolment in private school is to public school. It is about 60% enrolment for public

school and 40% for private school according to the graph on page 7. How similar are

private and public schools in Finland? “Once graduating the students will have a chance for

registering to any school they want. Passing a skill exam is necessary for some vocational

schools entrance” (Gokce and Celep 8).

The starting and completing age for Finland is 16 and 19 for upper secondary

education according to the graph on page 8. This is older than the U.S. system. “While

universities highlight scientific research and instruction, technical schools emphasize

“practice” in their strategic plans in Finland” (Gokce and Celep 10). This seems similar to

the U.S. The main focus of the Finnish university system is to provide conditions for free

and autonomous studying. How hard are these schools to get into though? What is the

application process like for universities in Finland? How much is tuition for the universities

in Finland?

David Publishing published it in 2013, which makes it very current and credible.

The graphs are done well and do not show preference to any of the countries. Since it is a

comparison it only states facts in a very neutral way. It never says, “this one is good, but

this one is better.” At the bottom of the page, it says it was presented at an Education and

Society conference in Istanbul.

I plan on using this in my paper purely for facts. The facts used in this comparative

essay are very valuable when I look only at Finland. I will use this essay mainly in the

beginning when I write about the basics about the two systems.

Finland: Higher Education. Paris: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and

Development, 1995. Print.

This book explains in depth, the structure of the Finnish educational system from

start to end. It explains the history in the first chapter and then goes into the actual

structure in the second. The chapters after that are in depth explanations of each part of

Finnish education. Along with text, the book has graphs with demographics and time to

show how far the country has come with its various reforms. The book shows the positives

and negatives of the various reforms and other actions in the history until today.

The source is credible because of the lengths it’s gone to provide the information

given. The book was written by OECD for the series Reviews of National Policies for

Education. Each graph is given by the Finnish Ministry of Education, and is sourced at the

bottom of each graph (which is just about every other page). The book shows no prejudice

throughout the book. It only gives facts about the history and the reforms given throughout

the history that made it rise to the top. The only part, which is not credible, is when the

book was written. It was written in 1995, and a lot of things have changed since then. It still

gives a good view of the system though.

I plan on using this book as one of my main sources because of the abundance of

information given and the quality of the information. The book is well written and easy to

read and skim through for the valuable information. I will use this book for just about every

aspect of my paper. It has things about teachers, about budget, about government, pretty

much anything I need to know about the Finnish education system in in the book.

“The traditional long-term objectives of Finnish education policy are to raise the

general standard of education and to provide educational equality.” (29)

“According to the plan proposed by the government in summer 1993, the education

system should be developed in the direction of greater clarity and international

compatibility.” (32)

“Both comprehensive and upper secondary school have a broadly based system of

counseling that underpins the development of the pupil, and provides guidance in studying,

career planning and choice of further studies.” (30)

"Race to the Top." The White House. The White House, 31 Mar. 2013. Web. 31 Mar.

2013. Web.

The web article is a brief explanation about the “Race to the Top” program

implemented in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act created by the Obama

administration in 2009 in response to the No Child Left Behind Act created in the previous

presidency by the Bush administration. The program is mainly about budgets and testing

more than anything. It plans to give $4 billion to 19 states in funding. It will try to turn

around the lowest-performing schools.

This is a reliable source because it comes from a government website. The article is

purely facts and future hopes by the president. It could be determined that the source is

biased because it came from the White House and it is describing policies made by the

White House.

To get a better understanding of the program I think I will need another source

about it. I will use this to show what we are doing now and in the future and compare it to

how Finland is reforming today and their outlooks for the future. I can use this for my

section about government interference within education. I can also use this in my section

about budget and testing too.

“This initiative offers bold incentives to the states willing to spur systemic reform to

improve teaching and learning in American’s school.”

“Race to the Top has helped drive the states nationwide to pursue higher standards,

improve teacher effectives, use data effectively in the classroom, and adopt new strategies

to help struggling schools.”

“Obama’s Race to the Top initiative has dedicated over $4 billion to 19 states that

have created robust plans that address the four key areas of K-12 education reform.”