>I don't know about the US having the worst education system in the world.  I
>have been teaching college for some years and the students that have come to
>me in the last decade are an embarrassment.  Most of them have not developed
>basic reading and writing skills.  The can pronounce the words they read
>(for the most part) but they have some difficulty in ascertaining the
>meaning of what they have read.  The essay assignments are in general a
>disaster.  But in every class there are a few students who are brilliant and
>that is the redeeming value of teaching.

It's the same Bell curve as always. However, as a larger percentage 
of people attend college, we dig deeper into the middle of the 
distribution.

I don't doubt that teaching to standardized testing requirements has 
also had negative effects.

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Chris Smolinski
Black Cat Systems
http://www.blackcatsystems.com
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