Reply to What were we doing right, education-wise, in the 80s and 90s?

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[quote=Anonymous]Current high school teacher here, born in ‘80.

I am sure there are many factors, but one that really stands out to me is rising inequality and increasing instability in families. Many are just trying to survive. In my rural area, addiction is also a huge issue in families, contributing to above.

Another is a lack of reading. My AP students from just 5-6 years ago were much more prepared than they are now. My current students, kids who are wonderful and motivated and work SO hard, don’t know medium-complex vocabulary and can’t spell. Many of them can’t spell words like “cheerfulness.” Not kidding. They just have not read a lot of books in their lifetime and it shows. Again, these are smart kids, no less intelligent than students of years past...it is a skills/exposure thing.

Can’t discount the influence of tech, at least in recent years.

Life is very complex now and kids feel pressure to go to college from a young age. That wasn’t the case in my high school, in the 90s. Adults were also waaay more hands off back then and far fewer students were in Special Ed. It is mind boggling how much school resources and time are used for about 10-20 students per 500, just trying to get them to attend school or do any work, ever. Not saying those students don’t deserve help, they do!

As professionals we are asked to spend more and more of our time addressing social and emotional needs, despite not being therapists. You can bet that academics takes a back seat as a result. And the kids ARE more troubled, more helpless, etc. it is not made up.

Sorry to ramble. It is so complicated. I think about this all the time...[/quote]

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