Compare the knowledge of an 8th grade graduate from Poland and the U.S.
I promised myself not to login anymore but I just can't read that nonsense.
PennBoy are you polish? have you gone through polish new education path (podstawówka-gimnazjum-szkoła średnia)? If not don't spread myths.
Theoretically polish pupils have really wide range of knoledge to tackle. But the truth is that no one will force a lazy teenager to learn all that stuff. Most polish teens probably don't know when was Chrzest Polski, have problems with counting % of something, don't know the capital cities of well known countries. When I was in LO (and it was quite renowned LO... what doesn't mean that all kids where smart) one girl aged 18 didn't know the capital city of SPAIN! Actually she had no clue what country Madrit was in...
Poland maybe had a good edication 20 years ago. But know (after the reform in 1999, it reached the buttom). I know it from my own experience as I was come within a reform as a pupil.
Polish middle schools are inefficient. They end up wasting teaching time
EXACTLY. I was doing nothing in gimnazjum. I see nothing changed. That's really sad because the most important thing you should gain from school is ability of regular learning, being systematic. Kids learn only that it's easy to get 5.
What is more in Poland pupils can't be suspended at the level of middle school so now imagine class of 15 years olds who you can't disciplinate!