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Why teach like this? The answer is simple – In a testing environment, he has a 1 out of 3 or perhaps 1 out of 4 chance of guessing the correct answer. Since the tests are timed, the school would prefer that he simply guesses rather than spending too long on investigation.

Is it any wonder then that the average reading ability of a person in the United States is at the level of an 8th-grade education? We even have tools to make sure that you’re writing at those levels. How can we expect innovation when we can’t get people to understand higher principals principles because they can’t comprehend what we’re writing?

It’s a grievously-forgiving system and it’s stifling the minds of our younger generations. Yes, there are exceptions, but they shouldn’t be exceptions, They should be the rule. We’ve grown into a society where participation is awarded trophies because we don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. Well here’s a news flash — the real world doesn’t care very much about your feelings, and participation will land you asking people if they want fries with that order.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that we don’t need people to make us hamburgers. For some, that’s exactly what they want in life and I’m happy that they have the chance to do it. But many others land there because they’ve been taught that mediocrity is a goal.

more . . . http://thenextweb.com/entrepreneur/2012/01/16/stop-teaching-our-kids-to-be-employees-start-educating-entrepreneurs/