Actually, I was considering *all children in my posts. My apologies if my mention of outliers led anyone to believe that I was focusing on only a subset of children.
I do agree that the current system is problematic with some schools being far ahead in what they teach and others ridiculously behind. I don't believe that having CES will make a positive, significant difference. There already is a CES of sorts in place; it's called NCLB - children are supposed to be proficient in certain topics by a certain grade - and it's a failure.
Austin, you've described an excellent, individualized education. But that won't work for kids that move from state to state unless they used the same curriculum. And I really don't like use of specific curriculum being dictated at a state or federal level.
But if the states all agree they will introduce cursive handwriting in 2nd grade, study of ancient civilizations & fractions in 3rd, etc., it will give a common goal. If a child knows the material, pass them, if a child needs to work through it another year, hold them back.
I'm confused, are you saying that you don't like the idea of having a national/common curriculum, but would agree to it if it meant that all schools taught the same subjects during the same grade? That still wouldn't necessarily address gaps for transfer students, especially mid-year transfers, unless the curriculum dictated what would be taught, *when (to the date) and the teachers, etc. were not allowed to deviate.
