Does anyone else feel that we are dumbing down education in schools?

to accomodate those who have a harder time learning? I keep noticing this at school. Usually those who can't learn quickly and efficiently are not separated into a different group or class, rather they keep them in the class room and dumb down the curriculum.

I think you're right. The education paradigm is about making the slowest learners "feel good" about themselves while ignoring and belittling those who excel. A modern BA/BS degree is what a high school diploma once was. Universities are complaining about having to dedicate more resources to remedial programs to get (American) students caught up to the point they can pass minimum math and science requirements at those institutions. Our students continue to decline in scores across the board while teacher's unions demand more money. Am I the only one seeing the disconnect there?

Education in America is dumbed down for the many, not for those with learning problems. When you get down to it, the average American is not very bright.

Most definitely.

Yes, I agree it's a problem. Somehow people are worried about harming someone's self-esteem more than they worry about someone actually LEARNING! Self-esteem comes from achievement, not the other way around.

I don't know the answer about "mainstreaming" special needs students. Obviously everyone deserves an opportunity to learn.

But we have to be fair to everyone, and not just aim for the least common denominator.

I dont feel, I know......

We cant have the slow kids get their feelings hurt now can we?

Yes the education is very dumbed down. The only way to get a decent education here is to attend college. It has come to this because people are too lazy to do the work required to be well educated. This idea stems from the fact that we have so many people on welfare. This country has bought it's citizens pride.

We sure are. If you want your kids to get an education you have to send them to private school.

I agree. They spend all kinds of money to "educate" some kid with an IQ of 75, who won't ever get beyond a certain level of learning - but the kids with real potential are left without the resources that could make a huge difference to their education.

Not dumbing down, but closing in. In the local school in my area, they focus on AMERICAN History about 4-6 terms, while only one in WORLD History. I think both should be balanced since this creates a feeling of selfishness in the people. Also here they only get one term of Geography in high school, leaving kids asking where Canada or Mexico are...

no i dont think so. kids in lets say 4th grade are learning more now than when i was in 4th grade. there is always dumb kids slowing down the class but if it is slowing it down too much than the teacher should be working with the student after class.

There was a study showing that, on average, the college students going into teaching had lower test scores and grades than those going into other fields.

That should scare the bejabbers out of anybody concerned about the education of our children!

Absolutely. The education system is "dumbing down" for a number of reasons. I have a cousin who lives in Canada, and she was held back a year in 7th grade because she couldn't pass her end-of-year exam, and she says she's glad they did because it would have been so much harder in high school if she didn't get those middle-school-basics down first. Despite the "No Child Left Behind" laws, schools refuse to hold students back, even when everyone knows these students will never make it in the higher grades. They're more concerned about the self-esteem of the students than they are about ensuring they have the proper education. How are students supposed to feel good about themselves if they get a high school diploma but they can't read or write? And you wonder why the U.S. is lagging so far behind many other countries in the world in terms of education, when we should be kicking the crap out of them?

Another part of the problem that no one wants to talk about is parents. Many parents look at school as a babysitting service that gets their kids out of the house for six hours a day. They take no interest in the school or the education of the children and they can't be bothered to make sure the kids do their homework. I bet that would change if they started holding kids back a grade and billing the parents for the time that was wasted trying to teach their kids...

Absolutely. If people were taught their real rights and how to fight their own legal battles from kindergarden the government(s) (as they exists today) could not function. Our country would be what the founding fathers intended...a free republic.

The dumbing down also follows through to major media sources... another symptom of overgovernment.

I agree to a point.. I don't like the "dumb down" remark... but until we put more money in our educational system.. it's only going to get worse... we have taken so much from it that, our educational system today is a joke, and no one seems to be standing up and saying we need to put more money into our educational system.. we need the schools to supply the materials required to learn.. we need more teachers, we need to pay teachers competitive wages, we need to put more time and effort on things kids need to learn today, and yes we need to separate the different levels of learning.. above average, average, and below average... but as long as that is the one place all the politicians take money from to pay for things then it's only going to get worse..

That's one problem. The other is shift in curriculum. I noted recently that Kindergarten teachers are looking for lesson plans to 'teach Excel' to their students. That's crazy. Let's forget about all the techno-babble, and go back to teach reading, writing and arithmetic first.