Do American schools emphasize grammar less than in the past or...?

Never mind less emphasis, it is all but nonexistent. Students come in to my introductory classes at university with less of a command of the fundamentals of English grammar and usage than my generation had at the end of grade 8.

What you think is absolutely correct.

Teachers are now mandated to teach what NCLB laws tells them to teach, which is HOW to take a test, and give the kids the answers to the state tests. ALL teachers can teach now is what is on these state tests. All year long.

This is so the kids can pass the state tests and the schools can GET MORE MONEY.

What NCLB has done is dumbed down the standards drastically so it will be easier for the kids to pass the tests so the school can GET MORE MONEY.

That's why education in US is far below other countries.

And we thought the gov't was honest in pitching NLCB as 'no child left behind'. Hmph, it's really ALL children left behind.

Correct grammar is not in the standards that teachers are suppose to teach I dont' believe.

And even if it is, teachers are on a 'time table' for what to teach when, so if kids dont' have enough time to learn the grammar, then oh well it doesn't matter, the teachers have to move on.

This is why I started homeschooling. My daughter takes longer than others to learn and she wasn't learning anything.

http://nochildleft.com/2004/sept04book.html

Before I answer your question I’d like to address the comments of the first poster. Teachers are NOT teaching how to take a test. They teach content and skills. In fact the poster is wrong when she says all we can teach is what is on the test - I have no clue what’s on the test from year to year. It is consonantly changing! But I do know what skills will be on the test; reading comprehension (main idea, details, etc.), plot points, grammar and usage, and much more.

As far as her “belief” about what teachers are supposed to teach in regards to grammar - she’s way off the mark. (This is where I will start to answer your question.) In my high school students receive a very rigorous grammar education that deals with the usage of words (a little like diagramming sentences). It starts freshmen year with some basic steps that are added to every year until they graduate. Also, students who plan on going to college must learn these things as they are on the SAT.

As for your issues with words like their, there and they’re, I see it too, everyday. In fact, I could give you a whole other list of misused words. Every time a student uses the wrong word on a paper - I correct it. Some of the errors come with age. After all, I cringe to see the papers that I wrote in high school with some of the same errors you speak of in your post. It's interesting for me - I've had students as freshmen and then as sophomores. I can't tell you how many times they've said to me, "I never learned that!" When I know, for a fact, that I taught them what they claimed they never learned! When I remind them of the lesson, I get the "Oh, yeah..."

I think we do see more written word today, but it is more informal than the written language of the past. It is in fact more blogging, twittering and so on. All things that don’t have editors… It is not the formal essays, books, articles and newspaper reports of yesterday. In fact, I can’t tell you how many times I have complained to the local news web site about the person who does their data entry. There are constantly words spelled wrong, misplace apostrophes, and more. Drives me NUTS!

Some people say grammar has gone to the wayside and it is all about communicating. I don’t know if this is true, but until it is I will correct students grammar and usage!