Interesting point, Ultramarina. It's certainly true that apathy can make even PG students ask those kinds of questions and tune out pretty thoroughly.

I guess I'm also operating from the subtext that the teachers operate in ways that indicate rather strongly to me (and to my DD) that most of her classmates can't handle some of the work as it is-- because they "modify" assignments (to soften standards) and offer "extra credit" all the time (though notably excluding the top students, who don't NEED retakes on tests, resubmissions on essays, and extra points for participating in class-- and for whom those things would regularly elevate them to 110% or higher performance), and because many of her classmates (though usually not the teachers) have trouble following along at the rate that she moves through a question/inquiry/argument-- she has to slow way down for the class, generally speaking.

Maybe I just expect too much from it, I don't know. Maybe the classmates ARE actually MG and we just have unrealistic expectations.


Schrödinger's cat walks into a bar. And doesn't.