People want to compare things to other things. I thought you might like to see what education in the old days was like compared to today.
By the year 2000 K-12 was the equivalent of a 6th grade education in 1900. Most colleges had to first educate the student up to a High School level first then on to advanced degrees. Trade Schools dropped from Master to Associate level. Has Education changed?
What can be done? First of all stop making things easier for the kids. Either they learn or they don't get passed up to the next grade. In today's schools after a child completes a school year they get automatically passed on to the next grade. Kids are not learning anything in school this way. Keep the child at the grade level they have achieved through education until they learn the material sufficient to pass on to the next level. Get rid of Junior High Schools. They only encourage the student to keep playing until they get to graduate.
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Second of all keep the books the same with the same information and facts for each year at the same level. Math is math in grade school you should learn how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide numbers. Why do kids need 8 different books to teach this subject? Why do they need a calculator to figure the numbers up? Keep the calculators at home and use pencil and paper after all you are learning here. History is History. Why do kids need 8 different books to tell them what has happened? Science may change but not at the basic level of Grade School. Grade School should be K-8 not K-6.
High School is for more advanced learning and preparation for college not fun stuff. Some of this should be sent to Trade Schools not teaching in High Schools. I am not faulting the instructors but pointing out that as parents we put way too much emphasis on fun not learning. Again a child should only advance as they learn the material not by age.
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Trade schools can and should take the place of High Schools if a student shows the aptitude for the course work. Yes the material will be more focused on which ever trade they are taking up but the student still should not be advanced until the student learns the material. Trade Schools might think about taking kids right out of Grade School if the student is into a particular trade. Trade schools should focus on their trade not a little bit of everything.
Colleges should focus on getting the students advanced schooling for their various degrees. If a student fails to learn something then either expel the student or have the student retake the course until they learn it. But when they retake the course they automatically drop one grade level. In other words first time through if they got an F that is what they got. If the student retakes a course then even if the classroom work is an A all they get out of it is a B. Make the kids learn not party. If a kid does nothing but party at school then kick the kid out until that child grows up.
Nothing new in the reforms I have suggested just pointing out that today's schools are becoming nothing more than public babysitters.