I've repeated it before, I think it was Grinnity who said it here, the only practical answer is to time block the classes in a school, MAP test the kids periodically, and place the kids in the right class for each subject by ability and achievement, not by grade or age. This is for the struggling students too. What kind of education are they getting being shuffled along, tutored after school, and still sitting through a poor-fitting classroom. Meet them where they're at. It sounds so simple on paper. I'll bet that helps the drop-out rate too. Even if it doesn't then you met their real educational needs while they were there. And this could be done just in the school system without having to convince the rest of the government or people anything.

Youth lives by personality, age lives by calculation. -- Aristotle on a calendar