mikecash said:
...I came to wonder if they teach spelling anymore. (Do they?)
I have been quietly amused by this thread for a bit. This was a good article on J-sites. I thought the lego comment was amusing. (But why lego's? Why not trucks?)
but-- Okay that's the third slam on what we teach in high schools these days. As a teacher, give me a break. Yes, we teach civics (as noted by Ma Cherie), but you can take the Government class a dozen times and never learn the exact powers of the FCC. Constitution, branches, checks and balaces, bill of rights, other amendments... that kind of thing we teach. The teaching of spelling pendulum has swung back to "yes, we teach spelling" and away from "no, we teach whole language."
These days we are supposed to teach kids about gangs, drugs, pregnancy, AIDS, internet safety...kids are supposed to be functionally literate, computer literate, conversant in the basics of physical and biological sciences, know the basics of US and World History, be reasonably knowlegeble about nutrition and fitness, know at least one foreign language, be proficient in algebra and pass a test to prove it all.
Think about what YOU remember from high school. (What was her name? Who was that teacher that used to...?) What we teach and what students actually learn and remember are two different things.
If you want to know exactly what we teach in California, all of our state standards are available on the department of education's web site.