This seems to be more blaming a symptom. Consider, if there were not increased stakes involved with getting high scores, there would be fewer cheaters. Teachi

This seems to be more blaming a symptom. Consider, if there were not increased stakes involved with getting high scores, there would be fewer cheaters. Teaching anything has grown more difficult as you get fewer and fewer projects and tangible goals. This is all the more emergent as we pay attention to what people actually remember of their learning. You get some kids together to build a crappy little car, they are probably going to leave that class with a basic understanding of what did and did not work. Force those same kids to sit in a room and talk about building a rocket, and they are likely as not to leave with a really bad understanding of physics. Irrespective of how they score on any tests. So, you want people to learn something? Give them something to do with it. If we don't have enough toy projects and general work, why do we think we will have enough outside of the class for them?