Times have changed, for the most part for the better, I think.
Some things are better, some things are worse. 30 years ago... about 25% of the kids did not finish grade 12 - now, its about 21%... not much different. But there is a difference in the kinds of kids who are finishing, and the kinds who are not...
What has happened on the school front is that we have changed "which" percentage of kids no longer fit at school. Watching difficult child struggle, I wonder how I ever made it through - so I've been going back over what school used to be like - and difficult child would have done much better, back then.
Classrooms were quiet and orderly - so, problems like auditory discrimination didn't show up. When the teacher was speaking, you could hear a pin drop (99.9% of the time).
They taught ONE subject at a time, rather than this blended stuff. So, it when there was a weakness, it was obvious where the problem was, and that area got targetted support.
They actually TAUGHT key, basic skills - printing, handwriting, basic math, reading, composition - rather than assuming that the kids will just pick up these skills on their own in the stream of information coming at them.
The day's schedule was consistent - if you had PE after lunch, then it was at that exact time, every single day (unless you were on a field trip). Heavy subjects were ALWAYS in the morning - reading, writing, math. Art - after about grade 2 - was always in the afternoon. So, the kids were freshest when doing the heavier work. At least where I went to school, you didn't need an agenda - all assignments were due on Friday; you could ask for an extension to Monday morning before school (automatically granted if you had been sick or it was a subject you struggled in). If you had more than a week to work on it, a notice went home a week before the assignment started - and the parents had to sign it and return!
We have a greater understanding of what is driving these difficult child kids - the causes of the problems. Sometimes this helps us know what they need. But the current approach to education now makes it vital for families to get to the bottom of
every single possible diagnosis this kid has, in order to get accommodations that used to be "normal course of business" and/or are work-arounds for the mess that school has become.
Discipline... is either extreme or non-existant - they may not have the strap any more, but some of the toung-lashings I've heard lately (not my difficult child) are more emotionally damaging. There is no easy answer on this one...
until we (society as a whole, including the school and medical systems) are prepared to do what it takes EARLY to catch all of the needs of all of the kids as soon as possible and then step up to the plate with the resources to support them. And I don't see THAT happening any time soon. So, we pay huge $$$ for prisons... and not nearly enough for education and medical support.