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For more than a decade, Finland has scored at the top or near the top of the closely watched international exam known as PISA, the Programme for International Student Assessment, while the United States has hovered near the middle.

Pasi Sahlberg, who heads the Centre for International Mobility and Cooperation in Finland’s Ministry of Education and Culture, will be in Seattle this week to talk about how his country achieved its success without standardized tests, teacher merit pay, school choice, or many of the other trends in American public education.

Sahlberg, who started his career as a teacher, has written a book about that subject, titled “Finnish Lessons.”

Sahlberg will speak at a luncheon Wednesday at the Rainier Club at 820 Fourth Ave.  The luncheon starts at 11:45 a.m., costs $27 and requires an RSVP.  He also will give a free public lecture at  7 p.m. Wednesday at the University of Washington’s Kane Hall,  Room 210.