Adobe Camera Raw in Photoshop and Elements

I recently purchased a copy of Photoshop Elements v.9 to prepare to teach a course on shooting and editing raw files. In order to keep the course and required software affordable for those who don't want or need the full power of Photoshop CS5, I thought I'd use Elements instead. Reviewing Elements, I found vast differences in the Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) processor that is part of both programs. And to be honest, I was rather disappointed in the Elements version of ACR.