Education Challenges: NYC Schools and Finland's Model

New York City Schools in the Early Twentieth Century

There have been a plethora of developments in modern educational systems. Yet many of the same problems that plagued classrooms at the beginning of the last century are still present today, suggesting that certain trends in education are timeless in nature. At the same time, the quality of education is increasing rapidly in some instances, and new developments have the potential to bring quality education to demographics that previously had few options.

Another significant trend is that as educational systems have made progress, so too has the volume of content students are required to master in a modern environment. Education in the early twentieth century may have consisted of reading, language, mathematics, and some basic sciences. Today, the scope of education covers far more disciplines, many of which emerged only in the late twentieth century — subjects such as information technology, programming, and genetics, among countless others. This paper examines challenges that previous generations faced and compares them with the contemporary educational environment, while also considering how advances in science and technology continue to expand what students must learn.

Of all the cities in the United States, it is interesting to note that the last city to develop a system of public high schools was New York City (Superintendent of Schools, 1948). This late start may be one of the factors that accounted for some of the problems the city subsequently encountered. Additionally, beginning public high school education so late had many ramifications for facilities and capacity. Schools were ill-equipped to handle the steady influx of students that grew from year to year. Insufficient and inadequate space to house and teach children was a problem that persisted throughout the years, though it was far worse in the beginning than at any other time.

One of the most successful programs that New York City developed in the early years of its public school system was sponsored by the U.S. Navy. Although vocational in nature, this program also made provisions to provide students with an array of more traditional subjects. Students took classes while aboard the U.S.S. St. Mary's and also learned nautical skills as the ship traveled to various destinations including Europe and Africa. However, the more traditional classroom settings in New York were plagued with a variety of other problems.

Many children of high school age during this period chose to work rather than continue their education. To children from families with modest incomes, education seemed more of a luxury than a necessity. The city attempted to cater to these children as well by constructing the first evening high school in 1866 (Superintendent of Schools, 1948). Before the school officially opened, seven teachers prepared to educate approximately two hundred students. However, over one thousand students applied on opening day alone. The incredible demand for non-traditional educational opportunities is a trend that has continued to the present day across many sectors of the educational population.

Overcrowding was another persistent problem within the New York City educational system. As the population grew, it further exacerbated the already strained resources of the system. Facilities were inadequate — both in size and capabilities — to provide a decent education to students. Class sizes made it nearly impossible for teachers to give any meaningful personal attention to individual students. One strategy employed out of necessity to mitigate the effects of overcrowding was to run multiple sessions: one session would begin early in the morning and run through the early afternoon, at which point the next group of students arrived and the process started over. The stress placed on teachers in such a demanding work environment was considerable.

Additional problems stemmed from the cultural shift students encountered upon entering high school. The environment was vastly different from the primary educational settings they had previously known. At the high school level, there was less individual attention, which required students to manage their own learning — something many were not prepared to do. Students fell behind quickly, and a significant percentage dropped out almost immediately after beginning high school, with another substantial percentage following shortly after.

Modern NYC High Schools and the Achievement Gap

It is somewhat ironic — or perhaps revealing — that many of the same problems identified in the early twentieth century remain prevalent today. New York City's educational system still contends with high dropout rates, facilities that lack adequate space and equipment, and overcrowding. Beyond these longstanding challenges, there are additional difficulties unique to the modern teaching environment. Because the body of knowledge has expanded so dramatically since the beginning of the twentieth century, students must now master a considerable amount of material beyond the academic basics in order to be competitive candidates for successful careers.

Few would argue that the teaching profession has not made tremendous progress and achieved a great deal, but the body of material teachers are expected to impart upon their students has also expanded — in many cases disproportionately so. One of the most significant and identifiable problems is the achievement gap between middle-class children and those living in poverty, a population composed of a disproportionate number of minority students (Tough, 2006).

Several research studies conducted over the past few decades have attempted to determine the root causes of this achievement gap. These studies took varied approaches, drawing on multiple academic disciplines including psychology and sociology. Researchers examined factors such as IQ development, the number of words children are exposed to, and the sizes of their vocabularies.

In today's highly fragmented economy — in which poverty has reached epidemic levels — many parents are effectively forced to work extreme hours across multiple jobs, leaving them little time to care for their children. In other cases, divorced or never-married parents must spend significant time working, again leaving little opportunity for active parenting. Wealthier families, by contrast, not only have more time to engage with their children but also the financial resources to enroll them in activities such as piano lessons, sports, and museum visits (Tough, 2006).

Finland: The World's Best Educational Model

Given the clear deficiencies in the U.S. educational system — particularly for certain demographics — it seemed worthwhile to examine some of the better-performing systems around the world. In nearly every study reviewed, Finland appeared either at the top or within the top three. In an interview, Finland's Minister of Education was asked why their schools performed so well; his answer was surprising: he attributed much of the Finnish system's success to innovations that originated in the United States (Snider, 2010). However, he also noted that Finland has developed a superior method of implementing those ideas.

Finnish teachers are not subject to standardized evaluation processes or performance metrics; the Minister of Education stated that teachers would most likely strike if such measures were ever seriously proposed (Snider, 2010). Approximately 98 percent of Finland's teachers are unionized. The only mandatory test students must take is at the end of their final year of high school. While they are learning, there are no rankings, no standardization, and no competition between students or schools (Hancock, 2011).

Finnish teachers are dedicated to their profession, yet they do not work the demanding hours found in charter school systems. One notable difference is that all teachers are required to hold at least a Master's degree. Class sizes are also much smaller than those found in most other countries. Despite these advantages, Finland actually spends less per student than the United States does (Hancock, 2011).

In Finland, it is nearly unheard of for children to arrive at school hungry or homeless (Tough, 2006). Inequality in Finland sits at nearly the opposite end of the spectrum from that in the United States. Mothers are entitled to three full years of maternity leave to care for their children, whereas in the United States maternity leave may last only a matter of weeks. Finland also provides subsidized services such as pre-school, and schools offer medical care, food, counseling, and even supplementary services such as taxi transportation when needed.

Children in the Finnish educational system are never placed in unnecessarily stressful situations. There are few tests, and little pressure is placed on students to outperform one another. They are gently encouraged to read rather than forced to do so. When a child begins to show interest in a subject, teachers adopt more of a collaborative, partner-like role in the learning experience rather than the authority-figure stance more commonly found in American classrooms.

Conclusion

Although the charter school system may demonstrate some degree of progress, the results remain heavily debated. Even if that progress were correctly attributed to the charter school model, these results would still pale in comparison to those achieved by systems around the world such as Finland's. The Finnish system has demonstrated sustained success over a lengthy period and consistently ranks as arguably the top school system in the world when various international rankings are compiled. However, this system — like many aspects of Finnish society more broadly — operates in nearly the exact opposite way from its American counterpart.

The role of culture must always be considered. Because Finland has its own unique cultural context, practices that succeed there may not necessarily translate to the United States. At the same time, some of Finland's approaches seem so fundamentally reasonable that one might wonder how they could possibly fail elsewhere. For example, if a child benefits from a mother's sustained presence in the early years of life because of extended maternity leave, it is entirely reasonable to expect that the child will have a better foundation during a critical developmental phase.

It seems that in countries such as Finland the needs of the child come first, and the political, economic, and social structures are designed around that priority. In the United States, by contrast, many children's needs are not treated as a social priority; instead, children receive only the level of support that existing political, economic, and social structures make available. It is unlikely that American culture would ever evolve into something resembling Finland's — yet it is worth noting that Finland's successes are built largely upon ideas that originated here.

Works Cited

Hancock, L. (2011, September 9). Why Are Finland's Schools Successful? Smithsonian Magazine.

McKinsey & Company. (2010, November 11). How the World's Most Improved School Systems Keep Getting Better. McKinsey & Company.

Snider, J. (2010, December 13). Lessons From Finland's Education System. The Hechinger Report.

Superintendent of Schools. (1948). The First Fifty Years: Fiftieth Annual Report. Board of Education, City of New York.

Tough, P. (2006). What It Takes to Make a Student. The New York Times, 1–20.