Those Inbred Finns Keep Getting Stupider

[Louis VI the Fat]

The tri-annual PISA scores are in. These measure educational standards across the OECD countries.

In keeping with what TinCow has learned us about starting succesful threads, a good angle might be to focus on those most secretive northerners, perennially trying to remain below the radar, unless it's got to do with their three main claims to fame: Santa Claus, winter depression, and phenomenal test scores.

Now a new chapter shall have to be added to the Kalevala, the poem of the Finns: great scores no more.

I blame it on Finnish inbreeding.

In maths, Finland only ranked sixth on the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment, or PISA. Finnish pupils performed better in science, coming in second after Shanghai. The huge city -- taking part in the survey for the first time -- came top in all three of the disciplines: maths, science and literacy.

Finland fared better in previous years. In 2000 and 2003, Finnish pupils topped the ranking for reading comprehension, making the country’s educational system the envy of educators around the world.

Experts say the expansion of countries included in the test weakened Finland’s standing. The latest assessment covered 65 countries, whereas the first one administered in 2000 only invited 32 states to participate. Poorer reading comprehension skills also pulled down results. In 2009, the portion of Finnish pupils recorded as having excellent reading literacy skills dropped to 15 percent from 18 in 2000.

Girls read better than boys in every country, by an average of 39 points, the equivalent to one year of schooling.

http://www.yle.fi/uutiset/news/2010/...g_2200222.html

Finland's PISA rankings

2000
Reading 1
Math 4
Science 3

2003
Reading 1
Math 2
Science 1

2006
Reading 2
Math 2
Science 1

2009
Reading 3
Math 6
Science 2

Full rankings:
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/33/5/46624382.pdf

Notable conclusions: East Asians keep making progression, grand slam the global rankings. Girls read better than boys, everywhere, by a huge margin. Finland is slipping.

[Rhyfelwyr]

unless it's got to do with their three main claims to fame: Santa Claus, winter depression, and phenomenal test scores.

Don't forget high school shootings.

Anyway, Finns only inbreed to keep their pure racial heritage!

[Beskar]

You haven't seen the scores for the UK...

[Louis VI the Fat]

Top Test Scores From Shanghai Stun Educators

With China’s debut in international standardized testing, students in Shanghai have surprised experts by outscoring their counterparts in dozens of other countries, in reading as well as in math and science, according to the results of a respected exam.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/07/ed...education.html

The big news is that for the very first time China partook in the study. The results are stunnign, almost shocking. Chinese kids blow all the other away. As if they're not even there.

There are some if's-and but's, but still, stunning. Are the Shanghai students specially selected and trained for a show? Is that one-child policy a disguise for the world's greatest eugenetics program after all? Who knows?

What us certain, is that the result has to be taken very seriously indeed. China propelled itself from not even competing to absolutely peerless number one.

You haven't seen the scores for the UK...

The UK and France are mediocrity central. Really rather dissapointing.

[Louis VI the Fat]

[gaelic cowboy]

I doubt China is that good there central government statistics are generally bogus

[Yoyoma1910]

The only reason that France scored better than the U.S. in math is because my wife now lives here as opposed to there.

[HoreTore]

Bah, the finns use almost no IT, projects or cooperation in their education.

PISA only checks 3 of 10-15 goals the schools have, and only parts of those three goals. It's an irrelevant and idiotic test.

ALSO, the amount of data is way too small to be statistically relevant and indicate any general trend.

[Furunculus]

i wonder if the new free schools will do anything to drag britain's scores from the wreckage of our comprehensive system in the next decade?

[naut]

I doubt China is that good there central government statistics are generally bogus

Well the three Chinese regions represented are the richest, most advanced parts of the country. I mean testing Hong Kong, Macao and Shanghai only is a bit like the US testing MIT, Harvard and Yale students and then proclaiming: "HEY LOOK ALL OUR UNIVERSITIES ARE GOOD!"

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Please note that the three regions selected for China include two former Euro-colonies and that all three are high-tech, heavy capitalist enclaves relative to the bulk of China.

If other nations got to submit scores from analogous areas only, they might do surprisingly better....even those Lapp-lover Finns.