ABSTRACT
Judging by various international assessments, the Finnish school system seems to be successful in providing the majority of its students with a solid foundation for further and higher studies, working life, and active citizenship. The results of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) studies, in particular, have shown that the Finnish education system has succeeded not only in stimulating academic excellence but also in promoting relatively high equity among 15-year-olds. For example, in reading literacy, Finnish students performed highest in PISA 2000 and 2003 and second highest in PISA 2006. In mathematics, they scored fourth in PISA 2000 and second in PISA 2003 and 2006. In science, their performance ranked third highest in PISA 2000 and highest in PISA 2003 and 2006. At the same time, when compared to other countries, the number of weak-performing students in Finland has been remarkably low in all three domains and the gap between low and high achievement relatively narrow (OECD, 2001, 2004, 2007).
