Didn't used to be this way. I recently looked at my mom's 1960s history book from 5th grade she found in her old things, and was pretty surprised at how the rea

Didn't used to be this way. I recently looked at my mom's 1960s history book from 5th grade she found in her old things, and was pretty surprised at how the reading and content seemed be aimed at a similar level as 8th or 9th grade when I went to school in the 90s. And what I experienced when I worked in schools in 2021 was far lower standards than even then. I wonder if it just has to do with the low hanging fruit effect -- productivity goes down as you extend from harvesting just the lowest hanging fruit to all the fruit, even the most marginal. When my mom went to high school, she was the only one in her family who went. In the time and place she grew up in, going to high school was as rare and impressive as getting a postgraduate degree is today. Only students with sufficient motivation would even attempt high school. Needless to say, you don't have to worry about disruptive kids or keeping them motivated in that environment.