was searching for an explanation for the drop in readiness that he was observing in incoming college freshmen classes. From his subsequent research, he developed a three-tiered model of what an education is.

The goal of the most basic level = acquire a knowledge of facts.
The goal of the second level = develop skills of learning.
The goal of the third, most advanced, level = to lead:
1) to know
2) to act effectively
3) to build something that matters

The founding generation believed that every citizen should have all three levels, and that

if we ever got to the point in our country where the leaders in society were getting a different education than everyone else, then our freedoms would be at risk.

Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened. In the mid-nineteenth century, a new model of education replaced that of the founders. The proponents argued that it just wasn’t practical for students to get a type of education that they ultimately wouldn’t need throughout their life. Yes, all citizens needed the most basic lowest level in order to qualify for the job market, but only a few with managerial careers needed the second level, and even fewer still needed the leadership level.

The challenge with limiting an education to the lowest level is that without the meaning provided by the other levels, it tends to become rote. In the name of efficiency, teachers attempt to transfer a knowledge of facts, figures, dates, places, names, mathematical algorithms, spelling, rules of grammar, etc. by lecturing, testing, sorting, and ranking. If you happen to be one of those advanced students that has a knack for memorizing, you pass through it fairly well. For the rest, school becomes something you just have to do your best to power through and finish as soon as you can.