The quality of education in today"s school systems has gone down.

             substantially due to many different factors. Some people disagree.

             and go as far as saying that the quality of education is better, but.

             many studies and expert testimonial will show that there has been.

             a large downfall in how students are taught and how students learn.

             compared to the past. This evidence will also show that the.

             problems begin starting as early as the elementary level of school.

             One statement that is believed by some is that since the.

             average teacher to student ratio has gone from 1:22 to 1:17 that.

             students are getting more personal attention and their needs are.

             being met better by teachers. However, just recently, in the studies.

             of teacher to student ratio were special education and other.

             reduced size classes added to the tally creating the illusion that the.

             average class size is really smaller than it actually is. When in fact.

             class sizes have generally stayed the same. In some cases classes.

             have gotten bigger in certain states causing overcrowding which.

             results in less personal attention. It also opens the door for.

             students with learning disabilities to go unnoticed by teachers,.

             furthering the damage to their education (NCES Fast Facts).

             Another false belief is that students of today are more literate.

             that students of the past. This maybe true for the overall average.

             but in recently it was noticed that in the period from 1980 to 1996.

             students in the age groups of nine, thirteen, and seventeen years,.

             all saw a drop of at least one point on the Reading Proficiency.

             Scale. From 1980 to 1996 students in the age group of nine years.

             dropped three points. From 1992 to 1996 students in the age.

             group of thirteen years dropped one point. Finally students in the.

             age group of seventeen years saw a drop of two points from 1984.

             to 1996 proving that students" scores in reading, although better.

             than forty years ago, have seen a recent drop in the past fifteen to.