The one thing I always wonder about these stories is if they are true why haven't we in the United States been surpassed? The first time I remember hearing about Finland's education system was 5th grade yet I'm in my early 30s and Finland hasn't moved up much. They still has a much lower GDP per Capita. I can't remember the last time I heard of a major breakthrough coming out of Finland. Other than Nokia I can't think of any other worldwide companies founded in Finland.

I don't mean to bash Finland which is a truly amazing place (no sarcasm, it really is). But at the same time a big problem in education is the scale tends to get clouded. No Child Left Behind's epic failure is a testament to that. Isn't it at least possible that Finish schools also "teach to the test" especially considering they test their students so rarely?

Before we increase class size, abandon charter schools and slow down efforts to integrate more technology into classrooms in favor of higher teacher salaries I'd like to see much more research done in this area.