I have taught math for nearly 40 years. The texts that I
used when I began teaching grade 7 are useless to me because
what was once taught in middle school is now in the 3rd or
4th grade texts. (Actually, I can use them for remediation.)
In previous decades, I had many students who were not going
to go to college or trade school. Now, nearly everyone must
take some type of schooling after graduation to even hope for
a job that will allow them to live independently.
The standards have pushed skills into lower & lower grades.
Since schools are judged on test results (based on the
standards), we are forced to teach at a much higher level
than ever before. Coupled with huge numbers of students with
learning disabilities or with a lack of vocabulary in the
English language, our job has become harder & harder. I do
not see an easy resolution to this problem.
