[Dmentor]

Despite the great stories and FIRST publicity, in my opinion this was a very sobering and depressing documentary. Some points that I walked away with:

1. Parenting plays a primary role in education (no surprise there)
2. Insufficient inspiration and motivation for learning as a whole
3. Vast disparity between regional means and standards
4. Inadequate teaching of basic economics, planning and societal value
5. FIRST may be a step in the right direction but it is an awfully small step

Reflecting on these... I think it is probably unrealistic to expect that the schools can systemically fix parenting issues. Schools probably need to spend more time educating students on the role of education within our society and in our personal living standards and this should then form a basis of motivation in the absence of parental influence. If we can't sell the majority of students on the fact that education leads to a better life, then I see us always being in a downward spiral as one generation passes their values to the next. I doubt there are many students that think testing is fun. An educational system based around high stakes testing doesn't seem to me to be a model for inspiration to learn. Technology if used properly can help address the disparity issues but I've rarely seen it used properly and there are too many entrenched stakeholders in the current process. Ugh.