Adapt or die. A simple and elegant either/or statement of a problematic state of being. The act of adapting may be voluntary or involuntary, but the need for change is dire. If not, death or literal fading toward obscurity and non-existence will ensue. Such is life.
We use this phrase in many contexts to give urgency to a necessary change. There is no human death, but the symbolism works. Here is one that strikes at the heart of education. American public education is the proverbial mile-wide river that carries a lot of water but has no depth. Our educational system is tasked by legislation and local mandates to achieve a wide expanse of outcomes, but because there are so many tasks our achievements are exceptionally shallow. And without significant depth of achievement, public education is dying of 1,000 cuts of complaint. There is no deep cut channel in American public education to give it an enduring and inarguable purpose.
We need to define the purpose and mission of public education so that our clearly written educational goals for all children are meaningfully understood and assessed and our achievements can stand on the merits of their accomplishment.
Reconsider the problem.
We have tunnel vision in assessing and valuing American public education. We have so many things to do, but we are accountable for only two outcomes – annual reading and math achievement. The Wisconsin statewide school report card system also lists graduation, attendance, and discipline rates and disparities of achievement based on gender and exceptionalities. However, in Wisconsin, as well as every other state, only reading and math achievement matter. And the data for reading and math are not good.
Sadly, the data align with the systems that create them. Our data accurately tell us that reading and math abilities in our students have declined and continue to decline. These are documented facts, because we prioritize and use single data points to assess and label the quality of American education. Thus, we pre-ordain our tunnel vision, fixate on narrowed data points, and bemoan education based on our fixations. Ugh!
It is totally exasperating to public school educators who watch children learn and grow in the arts, music, languages, and technical education curricula. We see children engaged and learning in science, literature, and the social studies. Gyms and auditoriums are packed with students, parents, and community members supporting student performances in athletics and the arts. There are a great many successes in our schools, yet it is the doldrums of reading and math data that form our conclusions about public schools in America.
Our chain link of education systems/assessments/data/conclusions about education are not working so break the chain link.
Adapt new models for American public education.
There are other models of education we should be considering. Today they are competitors and we cannot match the education/assessments/data/outcomes of their schooling. Instead of holding to our non-competitive model, we must learn from them.
Who are they? Singapore and Finland. Although our educational media have described, praised, and then criticized education in Singapore and Finland, we have done little to learn from them. It is time we do. I will generalize about their salient differences from our system. My analysis continues to use math as a curricular example.
- Educational design.
Singapore is a meritocracy with an emphasis on performance. All students are educated equitably until national assessments begin to sort those with high achievement potential. High potential students continue with a rigorous, academic training and average to low potential students begin career training. A small nation without abundant natural resources, Singapore’s educational system creates human talents that have become their national resource. Education in Singapore is highly centralized, driven from the top down. Their purpose is to find talents in students and optimize talent development for all.
Finland emphasizes social equity, trust, and no stress. All students receive the same, equitable education everywhere. Educational goals are nationalized but delivered locally; teachers not government are responsible for ensuring educational quality. All children are taught to achieve the same high level curricular standards. There are no national/state assessments until the high school (16-year-olds). The Finns place a unique trust in teachers to assess and deliver quality education; they localize education controls. Their purpose is to create generations of well-educated, socially conscious citizens.
American public education is decentralized and regulated by state legislation – we have 50 individual state systems of public education. We define education at the state level and give local control to school boards that create their own priorities based upon local needs and values. Each school has its own mission statement, purpose, and lists of educational goals, but few hold these as their non-negotiable “North Star.” Public education has evolved into educational options with ill-defined standards of excellence. Federal and state governments provide legitimacy and funding to non-public schools as educational alternatives under Parent Choice initiatives. Our purpose is to create literate young adults ready for college and careers and citizenship.
- Teachers
In Singapore, teachers are recruited from the top 5% of their high achieving students. Teaching performances are rewarded with bonuses, a continuation of their merits system. Curriculum is dictated by the Ministry of Education (MOE). Teachers participate in a career advancement track administered by their government. Teaching is a valued profession.
In Finland, teachers are required to hold master’s degrees in education. Teaching is a prestigious profession, equal to law and medicine. They are experts in assessing student learning and instructional design and have individual autonomy over their teaching.
American teachers meet their respective state licensing requirements. The federal government no longer classifies teaching as a profession and due to diminished public esteem, low annual income, and increasing job responsibilities there is a national shortage of people who want to be classroom teachers. A significant and growing number of classrooms are taught by people who are not trained as teachers.
- Assessment systems.
Singapore uses a summative assessment that clearly measures and make decisions on what each student has learned. The MOE supervises all assessments.
Finland’s teachers use formative assessments to guide instruction. Teachers develop their own assessments and use data to individualize student learning and growth.
America’s annual high stakes state assessments are evaluative. We rank students and schools based upon their performance on state assessments. Government threatens underperforming schools to improve or lose federal and state funding. We use assessment data to discard and adopt curricular programs.
- Mathematics
In Singapore mathematics instruction emphasizes mathematical reasoning, modeling, and real-world problem solving. More importantly, the curriculum builds deep conceptual understanding not memorization. Singapore students chronically top the international test takers.
In Finland teachers assess students on learning processes, problem-solving abilities, collaboration, and application of mathematics. Finland’s students chronically top international test takers. Students often work on a single problem for a full week. Add to this, Finland has ranked as the world’s happiest country for eight years in a row (2025).
American mathematics instruction emphasizes problem solving and finding right answers. Students often are assigned a dozen or more problems to solve every night as homework. Students compete with each other and seldom collaborate to solve problems. We focus on the right answers to math problems do not teach mathematical thinking or logic, although high achieving students may intuit these.
What to do?
Singapore and Finland excel in educating their children because they have clear compasses to keep their education system on track. Singapore’s centralized, rigorous, merits-based system is fundamentally different from Finland’s localized, teacher-driven, low stress, socializing system, yet each is a world-class leader in educational excellence because they do not deviate from their well-defined educational goals.
In comparison, we know that American public education will not be centralized and driven by a federal department. Our Constitution says public education is a state’s issue and each state’s politics will form its educational commitments. Because there is no national direction, we do not have a meaningful national purpose. Additionally, there is no consensus among states as to purpose or urgency. Each state treats public education as a status quo issue – it gets attention only when there are problems and or political advantage to addressing a particular issue.
However, we can
- From Finland, ensure educational equity for all children regardless of school district, or neighborhood. All children can be taught to achieve our standards of proficiency. Family socio-economic status should not predetermine learning success.
- From Finland and Singapore, teach thinking and best solution problem-solving. Our history of rewarding the efficiency of correct answers not their logic and rationale leave more than 50% of all students undereducated. We need to teach for deep understanding not rote recitation.
- From Finland, teach collaboration instead of independent competition, an industrial era model that fails us today. Our traditions of competition make socio-economic backgrounds of children even more pronounced. Collaboration is a learned skill set and we need to teach it.
- From Finland and Singapore, require classroom teachers to be highly trained experts in pedagogy and assessment instead of being minimally prepared in subject areas. Requiring a deeper professional preparation and continuing education reclaims a professional status for every teacher.
- From Finland, teach less curriculum but teach it so that all children master what they are taught. Every course and grade level currently is overloaded with stuff to be taught and learned. Teaching less will allow children to master the learning of more.
- From Finland and Singapore, define our descriptors of educational excellence and hold them as our North Stars. End the use of reading and math as our only data points. Use descriptors of high performance in every school program as expectations for educational achievements. Art, music, social studies, science, world language, technical education, et al equally define the quality of our educational systems. If American education continues to provide broad educational programs of academic, activities, arts, and athletics, then teach to, recognize, and celebrate excellence in each of these.
The Big Duh!
There was a time when America’s public education system was a model the world emulated. However, that time has passed. America’s future will not be improved by recreating our past but in our capacity to create a new future. There are systems that are excelling in educating their youth to be productive adults and contribute to the future of their communities and nation. These nations have become beacons for our emulation. We must adapt or die.