Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion NYT opinion: No (rich) child left behind

The skills taught in elementary school, such as reading and arithmetic, are intrinsically important. Many subjects and skills taught in later grades and in college are rarely used, and employers value credentials such as the high school diploma or bachelor's degree to signal a certain level of intelligence and discipline, not for the specific knowledge acquired. Some pre-professional majors such as engineering or nursing may be exceptions.

Long division of numbers is almost never done in real life -- we use calculators. It is important primarily as preparation to do long division in algebra. Most people don't use algebra on the job or at home, either, and the people who really struggle with long division are especially unlikely to. My general point is that intensive efforts to teach certain parts of the post-elementary curriculum will have limited benefit, because weak students will soon forget what they have been taught, and because the correlation of academic achievement with positive outcomes such as high income is largely due to the correlation of IQ with those outcomes.