[LTb1ow]

Originally Posted by NJSPEEDER

It is because that is what they are allowed to teach. Over the years, curriculum has been taken out of the hands of educators and put under the per view of politicians. The only measure of smart and dumb they can understand is a number on a test that they most likely don't understand. Makes for a pretty sad standard if you ask me.

Think of it this way, in the 1950's almost every school board in the country was made up of teachers and curriculum was made by each individual teacher to achieve certain goals by years end, at that time almost every American home received and read a newspaper every day. The good was that more people who could read would do so actively, the bad was that because of the lack of national or even regional standards, a lower percentage of people were in the position to learn to read well.

Flash forward to the present, we have many times more educational opportunities, the percentage of money spent on education per person has gone up dramatically, and yet the same very low percentage of the population can read at or above a 3rd grade level.

The average college graduate in the US doesn't even read on what is considered a high school level, the average newspaper article is written on a 2nd grade level, and even periodicals considered "smart" like the Wall Street Journal only average a 5th grade level.

It is a shocking failure of the system. You don't even want to get me started on math skills in this country, math teaches deduction and logic, concepts so few people can actually handle that is disgusts me.

Well put. And Diffi Q's next semester woot!