(however "gifted learners" are defined). Another concern about United States schools is that they appear to badly underperform compared to schools in many other places, for learners of all ability levels.
Concerns of these kinds have motivated hundreds of college-educated parents I know to choose to homeschool their children, to make sure the children aren't slowed down academically. Some seventeen-year-olds find it fun to study abstract algebra with the Artin textbook (through dual enrollment at the local university as a "twelfth grade" homeschooler) or algorithms with the Cormen textbook. The standard K-12 school curriculum doesn't fit all learners, and especially not the most able learners.
But I think the concern about many school situations in the United States is that they are plainly unsuitable for gifted learners
http://www.accelerationinstitute.org/Nation_Deceived/
(however "gifted learners" are defined). Another concern about United States schools is that they appear to badly underperform compared to schools in many other places, for learners of all ability levels.
http://nces.ed.gov/timss/
Concerns of these kinds have motivated hundreds of college-educated parents I know to choose to homeschool their children, to make sure the children aren't slowed down academically. Some seventeen-year-olds find it fun to study abstract algebra with the Artin textbook (through dual enrollment at the local university as a "twelfth grade" homeschooler) or algorithms with the Cormen textbook. The standard K-12 school curriculum doesn't fit all learners, and especially not the most able learners.
http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/Resources/AoPS_R_A_Calcul...