Education -You hit the nail squarely on the head, Michael.
So many diverse things contribute to the dumbing down, kindergarten through Ph.D. I can tell you that even in MBA core classes, many students come woefully ill-prepared. It's a domino effect, as students who should never be passed are advanced up from one level to the next. It never ends. Harvard is now graduating something on the order of 90 percent of its undergraduates with honors (cum laude, etc.). I believe the average grade standing of Harvard undergrads in an A-minus. Business profs have to fight grade inflation in their universities in order to hold their program's B-school accreditation. It's a constant fight, because students are long conditioned to the idea that average work should be rewarded with an "A." I can't tell you how many times I had a student say, "I did what you told me, how come I didn't get an "A"? Then I would have to tell them, "Do what I told you and you get a "C", bud -- do it with distinction or with honors and then will talk about it." They would look at me with a blank stare -- "Whaaaats that mean?"
Spelling, writing skills, plain arithmetic ability, bad and getting worse. Our whole education system is a sinking ship.
JC |
