THeory: the reason students seem to be struggling more this semester is that there is more stress because of the state of the economy, and more are missing time because of the stupid flu and they just don't have that margin for "error."
I know that the wiring could make this stuff work, but there are fundamental issues with how probelms are approached. How to teach those executive function or metacognitive or whatever other jargon you want to call the skills? I know there's a way. If you can teach reading comprehension, you can teach problem solving and following directions and ... welp, except I'm not sure what it is. It has to do with where in the brain a situation goes and what parts you use to decide what to do next.