Wyckoff is on the road to becoming a true learning community as the Board of Education continues to build off of the Future Directions initiative started in the spring of 2012. Furthering that goal, the autumn of 2012 brings with it the call for volunteers to join of a Strategic Planning Committee.
According to an open letter posted on the BOE website, “The Wyckoff Board of Education is seeking volunteers from our community to serve on the Wyckoff Schools Strategic Planning Committee. District staff members, parents of current and future students and alumni, and residents of Wyckoff are invited to participate and contribute as we embark on Phase 2 of this important initiative.”
There has been much attention to bringing new technology into schools, implementing new teaching methods -such as Singapore Math in Oakland- or placing a heavier emphasis on preparing students for the standardized testing which state and federal agencies use to grade schools; but, the Wyckoff initiative is a grassroots effort to better education by including all the stakeholders – which means the whole community.
While many eyes have looked east towards teaching methods implemented in countries like China and Singapore due to their high scores on standardized testing, many other eyes have looked north toward Finland.
Finnish schools, while actually having a shorter school day then American schools, continues to follow in the tradition of an extended summer vacation. This comparative with Finland is important when seeking models that are closer to the length of an American school day, the length of the school year in America, and similar cultural attitudes with respect to social norms and corporal discipline. (FYI for students, they also give less homework in Finland)
But while the United States shares some similar traditions with Finland, the results in standardized PISA exams is not. In the 2009 PISA exams administered in participating countries, Finland placed 2nd in science, 3rd in mathematics, and 2nd in reading. The U.S. came in 15th in reading, close to the OECD average, which is where most of the U.S.’s results fell.
Education reform in Finland began with the decentralization of the school system, and greater authority was given to local school districts. This has led to the Finnish government consistently refusing to implement programs such as No Child Left Behind instituted by President Bush or Race to The Top instituted by President Obama .
The Finnish reform in education was built on establishing a culture of trust between education authorities, political leaders, school principals, teachers, parents and other community members, and allows the local community to provide the best possible education for their children and youth – because it is believed they know how to do that at a local level.
While implementation of new learning methodologies, such as Singapore Math, have been introduced in the FLOW school districts – Wyckoff is now pursuing another avenue of building a bond of trust and building Wyckoff into a community of learning.
More information on the Wyckoff Strategic Planning project is available at: http://www.wyckoffps.org/wps/cwp/view.asp?A=3&Q=311699
Lincoln Nebraska: Strategic Planning Committee Documentation
Finnishing School – Time Magazine
NEA- What we can learn from Finland’s successful school reform
Education policies for raising student learning: the Finnish approach