[MereInterest]

Tell me this, then. What should we be attempting to optimize in education? Currently, schools try to optimize for maximum average knowledge. They try to put as much knowledge in each student.

However, this leads to the ever-present question "When will I need this in life?" from students who don't care about a given subject. The correct answer to that is always "Because you are the sort of person who asks that question, you won't need it."

Why not, instead, optimize for the most usefulness of knowledge. If a student is interested in math, they should receive extra attention in math, rather than the attitude of "Oh, good. A student that I can ignore because they'll learn it on their own." The correct response is "Oh, good. A student that I should continue teaching because they will remember it five years from now."

This has turned into a bit of rambling, but in summary, schools should focus efforts on people who will use the information given, rather than focusing efforts on temporarily boosting mediocre students who will just forget the information after the test.

[betterunix]

"Currently, schools try to optimize for maximum average knowledge"

From where I sit, schools try to optimize for minimum average independent thought, with knowledge being a secondary goal. A student who receives perfect scores on their exams can still receive a D- in a class; a student who does all their homework, even if they do not get everything right, will likely receive no less than an A-. Schools reward compliance over understanding, and often punish curiosity, creativity, and independence.