Once a week I tutor 4th grade kids in math and reading at a local elementary school. Academically, it's an average school in the LA school district, which means that overall it is not so great. I enjoy working for the teacher (late 30s/early 40s, not completely burned out yet) but she clearly has her hands full with her class of about 35.
As I walk in today I noticed that the kids had done topographical maps of CA. The HB just got done doing the same thing in his class. Here's the rub: He's a 3rd grader and these kids are 4th graders. Not only that, but the 4th grade class only had to identify the ocean, CA and the bordering states (Oregon, Nevada and Arizona for you scoring at home). In the HB's class they had to identify those things as well as three different mountains, five cities, cultural landmarks, etc.
I'm a big believer that kids will meet your expectations. So, why is it that LAUSD (or, to be fair, perhaps the state of California that controls the curriculum) has such lower standards for students than my son's school? Doing the map is a homework project, so it doesn't take classroom time. And everything he was expected to find was located on a common AAA map (or all over the internet).
If the expectation differences are so big for grades 3/4, imagine the gulf in high school. Keep that in mind next time you're asked, "Want fries with that?"
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