Are public high schools dumbing down?

A friend recently had a long conversation with a public high school teacher in the Ottawa area, and he was so disturbed by what the teacher had to say that he took the trouble to write out the points of concern.

Here is a rundown of the teacher's observations, as written by my friend:

• In the ten years he has taught he has noticed a continuous and noticeable decline in student attention spans, especially in the last five years.
• It is a constant battle to control their use of smartphones in the classroom. 
• Academic expectations have been dumbed down and grades inflated across the board.  (more...)

Are public high schools dumbing down?

H/T to catholicintelligenceblog