Did you hear about the school whose students rate the highest in the world in science and close to the top in math among the top 57 countries? And oh, by the way, assign very little homework, don’t have school uniforms, no “achievement award” programs like honor societies, very little standardized testing and wait until kids are seven years old before they start school?

In fact, it’s not just a school…it’s a country. Unlike U.S. schools, which have addressed performance concerns with more structure, more testing, more homework and programs that engage kids at an earlier age, Finland’s kids are far ahead of other countries by the time they are in ninth grade. And there is very little difference in scores between the best performing schools and the worst, or between the schools in the wealthiest areas of the country and the least – much different than our U.S. situation.

What’s their secret? Educators have been visiting Finland to find out:

What they find is simple but not easy: well-trained teachers and responsible children. Early on, kids do a lot without adults hovering. And teachers create lessons to fit their students. “We don’t have oil or other riches. Knowledge is the thing Finnish people have,” says Hannele Frantsi, a school principal.

Comparing results from a relatively small, homogeneous country like Finland with a large, diverse country like the United States may not be entirely fair. But are there lessons we can apply? Read more in the Wall Street Journal.