I don't understand why the state doesn't mandate a screening process to properly place students. Then hopefully the coursework could be used to pull students from concrete operational to formal operational. I know this still leaves room for a bad screening mechanism and does not have the currently favored 'high stakes test' directly attached, but it seems more appropriate to a larger number of students.
My second choice - Non-Euclidian Geometry for all 8th graders. Why not think outside the 4 straight lined congruently right angled box? I mean if we are really gonna push them...