Data and References: High school curricula

Curriculum standards for high schools are appalling, even at the national level. 

http://www.educationworld.com/standards/index.shtml

The emphasis in all these standards is "knowledge", "mastery", "recall", rather than synthesis or creativity or discovery or design. The curriculum standards promote memorization, regurgitation, and recall of material rather than creative ways to synthesize it together to form new ideas.