Yet another obviouse bit of research...
Just like giving kids who cannot do basic maths a calculator, or the current trend of giving those who cannot (or will not) write with a pen a Laptop.
The number one issue with modern education is that it is run entirely by true academics, most of whom could not function outside of the academic world and would probably never manage to hold down a real job. As a result we have people in education who do not understand the difference of recalling some information and actually understanding what it means.
These are the same morons who spout crap like: “You no longer need to teach facts, as you can just look it up on the internet.”, these people don't understand that apart from the internet being full of incorrect information, the same could have been said for centuries, as since there have been books; “you can just look it up”.
What we need is a complete U-turn on the use of computers in schools, (particularly as most teachers don't have a clue how to use them correctly) as stop wasting tax payers money upgrading them every year or two.
Get teachers to use the good old blackboard and demonstrate how to write by hand, do long-division and use basic tools like rulers and compasses. Then insists all kids do likewise in their books. That way the teacher will see the working out, see the spelling mistakes, and see the hand writing and know who did the actual work.
The biggest thing that needs to change in education is simply to be honest and accept that, “everyone is not equal”. Write truthful honest school reports; I am certain that most parents don't know that teaches are prohibited from writing anything negative in them “as it may make the child/parents feel bad”. Have exams that are hard to pass, making failure a real option and just throw out the utterly pointless exams. Like entering children for 4 separate GCSE's in ICT; these are used to make the school look good in the league tables as almost anyone can pass these no matter how dumb they are.
For every Faraday, Hook, Newton or Einstein there are many thousands of Forest Gump's.