Schools and Maxing Out

 I attended two schools in my youth.  Regional schools....farm-belt....rural surroundings.  In simple terms....you had pretty average teachers, in some cases....you had sub-standard instructors.

I had the science teacher from 6th grade through the 9th grade....who skipped around with the book and each year....skipped the evolution chapter.  I came to realize the impact of this at age twenty....while attending college (via the Air Force program).

I had an English teacher for the 6th/7th grade period....who wasted Fridays each week telling WW II stories.  If you tested me on the meaning of pronouns or adjectives....I would have failed miserably.

Over a four-year period (6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th grade) I had four math instructor who were dismal.  I was a straight D student, and it was wasted time.  In the 10th grade, I took a math class where the instructor handed you the book and said advance on your own (testing when you were prepared each week).  I was a straight 'A' student for the remaining three years in math classes.

From the 9th grade on?  I would have been better off if you'd just given me assignments and avoided class-time (home-schooling).  You could have tested me by the end of the 10th grade, and I could have passed any stupid test for graduation.  

Over the years, I've had this opinion that most kids are maxing out by the end of the 8th/9th grade era, and you'd be better off with some technical school or community college situation.