Forty years ago, Finland was a small, country with mediocre public schools. Today, Finland is still small but no one calls Finland's public schools mediocre any more. In 2000, the Finns surprised the world when their 15-year-olds scored at the top of a closely watched international exam called the PISA. Finland has stayed near the top ever since, while the U.S. scores around the middle. Pasi Sahlberg, an official with Finland's Ministry of Education and Culture, is in Seattle this week to share the story of Finland's success, and what states like Washington can learn from it. Sahlberg's message, although he is too polite to put it so bluntly: Stop testing so much, trust teachers more; give less homework; shorten the school day. On Tuesday, in a room filled with teachers, principals, professors, school-board members and policy makers, Sahlberg joked about the Finns' reputation for being a quiet, humble people. "When Finland hit the top of the PISA," he said, "the biggest disbelievers were Finns." More seriously, Finland never set out to create the world's top school system. Instead, he said, the country decided in the 1970s that it wanted to ensure that a student's success didn't depend on family background. "Finland relied on cooperation among teachers and schools, rather than on competition. Rather than judging teachers and schools based on test scores," he said, "Finland puts trust in its teachers and principals. Teachers develop the curriculum in Finland, and design their own tests. There are no national tests, except one at the end of high school." That's just the start. Along with a shorter school day, Finnish students don't even start school until they are 7 years old. Many primary schools have a policy against giving homework. "But Finland," he said, " succeeded in part by adopting ideas from the U.S. and other countries. And those countries, he said, can learn from Finland, too." What might be the author's purpose of writing the passage?
To introduce a Finnish official. To compare the education systems of Finland and the US. To share the story of Finland's success in education. To ask the US to improve its education.