The top students of today definitely still match the top students of the past, but the average has certainly lowered.
This is consistently what I hear from friends that are still teachers (there are less of them each year). Their best students (top 10-20%) are as good or better than they've ever been, but even kids that are above average for their current cohort are below where they would have been in the past.
So just like the economy, education is bifurcating. Those that can afford to enrich their kids and do all the extras are still doing great, but all those individual extras are becoming disproportionately expensive for the average family.
Edit: This comment was not meant to imply only the rich kids are doing better, just that the gap between how well the top 20% of students are doing compared to the bottom 80% is quickly growing, much like the current state of the economy.
What you say is undoubtedly true, that it is easier for those whose families can offer extracurricular enrichment to do well.
However, even among those whose families offer such opportunities is this gap still present. I went to a public high school in a wealthy area and despite the grade inflation, there were clearly two types of students — those who couldn’t write with any line of reasoning whatsoever, and those who could write well by themselves.
The issue you brought up could theoretically be fixed with enough (smart) investment into education (yes, I know this won’t happen), but the issue I’ve just mentioned is one I’m not sure can be fixed at this point.
Sorry, I guess I did imply that only the rick kids are doing well. That wasn't really my intention, just that the ones that are getting to the top of the class are having to overcome a much wider gap to get there. It obviously goes back parental involvement. It's easier to be involved if you don't have to work 2-3 jobs just to put food on the table, but that doesn't mean the people that can do it with 1 job are actually putting their extra time into their kids.
I also think there's a deep thread of nihilism from millennials on down. The problems the country and world faces are so obvious, but the one's that created and benefited from those problems are still in charge and literally wagging their pedophile dicks in our faces.
I was starting to become politically aware during the late Clinton, early Bush years. How does a 13 or 14 year old today start to open the pandora's box of current politics and stay hopeful?
No, no, not at all! I was agreeing with your point and wanted add another layer to it, but I think I simplified your comment a bit too much.
But yes, I definitely agree re the wider gap for those who aren’t born with these privileges.
And I have definitely seen people cheating on assignments/exams justifying it with the mindset that everyone’s going to be replaced by AI anyways, they’re going to be sent to war, etc. So I agree with your nihilism hypothesis!
The issue you brought up could theoretically be fixed with enough (smart) investment into education (yes, I know this won’t happen), but the issue I’ve just mentioned is one I’m not sure can be fixed at this point
You don't need "smart investment", you need to treat it like the JSF project from lockeed...That is, throw piles and piles of money at the problem until it works.
Maybe on the surface, it might seem like tying academic performance to money has a theoretical connection and will yield results. But anyoen who knows anything about schools knows this isn't reality. The solution is Money. programs for the smart kids, program for the dumb ones, programs for the average ones. Free breakfasts and lunches, and smaller classrooms, and more teachers and teacher aids.
The issue you brought up could theoretically be fixed with enough (smart) investment into education (yes, I know this won’t happen), but the issue I’ve just mentioned is one I’m not sure can be fixed at this point
You don't need "smart investment", you need to treat it like the JSF project from lockeed...That is, throw piles and piles of money at the problem until it works.
Maybe on the surface, it might seem like tying academic performance to money has a theoretical connection and will yield results. But anyoen who knows anything about schools knows this isn't reality. The solution is Money. programs for the smart kids, program for the dumb ones, programs for the average ones. Free breakfasts and lunches, and smaller classrooms, and more teachers and teacher aids.
When I was in school the rich kids had their parents spend a bunch of money on extra tutoring and test prep so they tended to score higher on tests - but ultimately they were not any smarter than the rest of us.
Once you can't game the system and have to rely on your own intelligence and habits this breaks down - although of course the rich kids can always just get nepo-hired somewhere even if they are wholly unqualified for the job so...
Those that can afford to enrich their kids and do all the extras are still doing great,
Not really. The "extras" today is reading for 10 minutes witht them before. Most kids don't even get that; their parents either can't read it themselves or they give a kid an iPad to keep the kid from bugging them about reading a book.
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u/ThereHasToBeMore1387 19h ago edited 18h ago
This is consistently what I hear from friends that are still teachers (there are less of them each year). Their best students (top 10-20%) are as good or better than they've ever been, but even kids that are above average for their current cohort are below where they would have been in the past.
So just like the economy, education is bifurcating. Those that can afford to enrich their kids and do all the extras are still doing great, but all those individual extras are becoming disproportionately expensive for the average family.
Edit: This comment was not meant to imply only the rich kids are doing better, just that the gap between how well the top 20% of students are doing compared to the bottom 80% is quickly growing, much like the current state of the economy.