Finland and LCS, what’s the connection?

What does the Finland educational system have in common with Lenawee Christian School? Recently, a dad in the school gave me a copy of Smithsonian magazine (September 2011) that had an article entitled A+ for Finland. According to the results of the 2009 international standardized PISA tests Finland is one of the top educational countries in the world. Here is a summary of the results:

                                    Finland                       U.S.

Reading                      2^nd                               15^th

Math                           6^th                               31^st

Science                       3^rd                               23^rd

As I read through the article and the facts given I concluded the key to their success was that as an educational community they have an attitude of “whatever it takes”. This applies to making sure that each and every student is successful in learning the material that is necessary to master and to adopt any and every means possible to ensure their success. Another key take-away is the ongoing education of their teaching staff. As I reflected on this article and some other reading I have been doing on educational excellence I wanted to see the similarities and differences between what they are doing and our educational system at LCS.

After three years of study of current educational thought and practice we determined two years ago to adopt a Professional Learning Community (PLC) model at LCS. The three big ideas of a PLC are:

1.     We accept learning as the fundamental purpose of our school and therefore are willing to examine all practices in light of their impact on learning.

2.     We are committed to working together to achieve our collective purpose. We cultivate a collaborative culture through development of high-performing teams.

3.     We assess our effectiveness on the basis of results rather than intentions. Individuals, teams, and schools seek relevant date and information and use that information to promote continuous improvement.

As I compare these three big ideas with the model of excellence practiced in Finland I see many similarities. We also are committed to do whatever it takes to make sure our students are master learners. This plays out in changes such as “super-switch”, mandatory retaking of tests where proficiency is not demonstrated, and study labs. It also compels us to do MAP testing three times a year to identify areas of strengths and weaknesses, by student, by subject area and by strand and then use that information to guide our curriculum choices and instructional strategies. This has led us to invest in an elementary science lab and pilot programs for I-Pads.

The other similarity I see with Finland is that there is much collaboration and professional education going on at LCS as there is with the faculty in Finnish schools. One of the most distressing items that repeatedly came up when I first arrived here was that our teachers felt like independent contractors. Because of this, the quality of the educational experience for a student was dependent on a teacher or a small group of teachers. With our new emphasis on a collaborative culture and shared results our faculty is constantly learning best practices from each other and comparing actual results to intentions. This environment also gives our students a wider base of teachers to interact with everyday. There is a new emphasis on our faculty as students and teaching from new things that they are learning. As an example, all of our staff is staying an extra hour and a half for seven classes on creating a digital rich classroom environment. This webinar is sponsored by one of the leaders in PLC thought and we want to stay current on how to use technology and digital tools to enhance learning. Many of our staff have their masters or are in process of acquiring it. A high number of our staff has been to the Model Schools Conference and Professional Learning Community conferences over the past few years. They are teaching from a fresh learning perspective!

As you see small and big changes at LCS I want you to know they are done with great research, planning and forethought. Even as we are trying to implement these improvements we are measuring the effectiveness and adjusting, if necessary, after a reasonable period of time to continue to create a safe and nurturing environment where each child can reach their individual potential. As I interact with other administrators from all venues of education I realize more and more that LCS is unique in being a strong Christian school that is an academic leader.