With the internet, it should be dead simple to improve on basic educational levels. But I suspect the fault is not all with teachers and curriculum. If a large number of students come to school only to hang out, or play sports, and this is never challenged at home or anywhere else, then they probably won’t learn much even if teachers are top quality. You can’t force anyone to concentrate. But if students are promoted to higher grades without proving that they have learned material at their present level, you have no way of determining until after the fact that the system is broken.
I suspect that American education is not really below the standard in other countries, as much as motivation of students falls short. When parents are very concerned about what their kids learn, and stay active in the process into middle years of high school at least, then usually there is no problem unless the kid has a severe learning disability.
It’s an observable fact that kids are usually about as well educated as their parents, by the time they graduate from high school. Then they might achieve different sorts of competence depending on what they choose to do, but they will still resemble their parents generally speaking in both motivation to learn and succeed.
Of course, I realize that education has shifted too far left and abandoned fact-based learning in favor of touchy feely crap and bogus “climate change awareness” sorts of diversions. That can be changed through funding. The time to develop feelings is weekends and holidays.
100% correct. I've been teaching in L.A. for 12 years now, and the kids are just way too comfy. They come strolling in late, hooked to iPods and iPhones, games at their disposal night and day, and want to sit down in English class, listen to music, and pull out the fast food they bought on their leisurely way to school. I swear, their parents must give them $100 a week just for spending on junk food. And every single day I make them put it all away and take out their notebook, they act surprised. I've been doing this relentlessly since August, but every time, they look at me so startled, like, "Miss, AGAIN?? How many times you gonna do this?!" I can't figure it out. Who the hell is raising these bovinely obtuse young louts?