Local teachers to study Finland’s education system

EAGLE — Two local teachers are in Finland to learn how it’s done in what many consider the world’s most successful public schools.

Jenna Barclay and Kelly Kienzle will spend a week in Helsinki for research and hands-on exposure to Finland’s school system.

Barclay is the Eagle County Schools new curriculum director. Kienzle was selected from a pool of more than 20 competitive applicants to accompany Barclay on the trip. She teaches science at Eagle Valley High School, and is an instructional support specialist for middle and high school science.

“Kelly and I will learn about the Finnish education system, teacher preparation and ongoing professional learning for teachers,” Barclay said.

A Day in the Life

In Finland, they’ll do everything everyone else does.

“We will spend time each day in elementary, middle, high and vocational schools. We will eat school lunches. We will study curriculum and instruction. We’ll ride buses. We will learn about testing, assessment, autonomy, recruiting, special education, the academic school year calendar and structures for a school day. We will talk to teachers. We will listen to kids,” Barclay said.

Top Test Takers

Finnish students consistently outscore students from almost every country on the Program for International Student Assessment, an international assessment that measures 15-year-old students’ reading, mathematics, and science literacy every three years.

“As part of our work to benchmark our approaches against the world’s best education systems, we are sending a study team to Finland in April to visit a number of schools and education officials,” said Jason Glass, superintendent of Eagle County Schools.

Kienzle and Barclay will be blogging about their trip on the Eagle Schools website, http://www.eagleschools.net/finland-blog.