If George Santayana was correct that “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” there are a lot of surprises in store for the raising generation of Americans. A new study shows a shocking lack of knowledge about U.S. history among our school children, including the fact that only 35% of fourth-graders knew the purpose of the Declaration of Independence. The results of the study are part of the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
According to the report, “[o]nly 20% of U.S. fourth-graders and 17% of eighth-graders who took the 2010 history exam were ‘proficient’ or ‘advanced,’ unchanged since the test was last administered in 2006.”
We are not alone in such dismal understanding of history, as recent studies in England have shown. This included the shocking disclosure that one in four people in England did not believe Winston Churchill existed.
The results of this study should be viewed as a national crisis. A lack of understanding of history denies a collective sense of identity and meaning in being a citizen. It reflects a dangerous disconnect between our rights and understanding of the foundation for such rights. A people that is ignorant of their history is not just at risk of repeating history but the loss of rights secured in that history. Ignorance may be bliss in one’s personal life but it is a threat to a free republic. For those who cite other essential guarantees of our Republic, a well-informed public is every bit as important as a well-armed militia to the preservation of our liberties. We are raising a generation of citizens with little understanding of our national struggle for freedom beyond soundbite phrases and cartoon imagery.
I have been working for years to reintroduce more civics training and classes in our public schools. This report shows how urgent such efforts have become.
Source: WSJ
Jonathan Turley
and all along I thought it was the libs dumbing down everything since most in the academy tend toward the left.
I agree with John Gear.
Kids are exactly the same as adults, in that they remember the history that interests them and forget the rest. This is no great sin. Our government and the intellectuals who have supported its worst actions over the years have clearly demonstrated that knowing history has no effect on the ability to know the difference between right and wrong. And I say this as a person who loves history.
Swarthmore mom,
I read a Salon article on the same subject yesterday.
Indoctrinate your children at Tea Party summer camp!
It’s a real thing!
http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2011/06/14/tea_party_summer_camp/index.html
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Tea party group offers summer camp
By Marlene Sokol
http://www.tampabay.com/news/education/k12/tea-party-group-offers-summer-camp/1175119
Excerpt:
TAMPA — Here’s another option now that the kids are out of school: a weeklong seminar about our nation’s founding principles, courtesy of the Tampa 912 Project.
The organization, which falls under the tea party umbrella, hopes to introduce kids ages 8 to 12 to principles that include “America is good,” “I believe in God,” and “I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.”
Organized by conservative writer Jeff Lukens and staffed by volunteers from the 912 Project, Tampa Liberty School will meet every morning July 11-15 in borrowed space at the Paideia Christian school in Temple Terrace.
“We want to impart to our children what our nation is about, and what they may or may not be told,” Lukens said.
He said he was not familiar with public school curriculum, but, “I do know they have a lot of political correctness. We are a faithful people, and when you talk about natural law, you have to talk about God. When you take that out of the discussion, you miss the whole thing.”
Tampa Liberty is modeled after vacation Bible schools, which use fun, hands-on activities to deliver Christian messages.
Great link Swarthmore! The tea party will provide a very adequate misinterpretation of history for those up and coming Teapublicans.
http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/06/tea-party-summer-camp-the-experience-of-a-lifetime.php?ref=fpblg Children can learn history at the tea party camp.
One of the best American history texts I’ve encountered as an adult is “Lies My Teacher Told Me.”
“The GOP Agenda is succeeding….”
AY is succinctly correct. This has been a worry of mine since in reading my 11 year old’s history textbook, more than 30 years ago, I found that WWII was dealt with in 2 and
1/2 pages. This is the result of those like the Koch, Welch and Mars Family using money to fund a vast conspiracy to dumb down America and therefore be able to convince people to work against their own best interests. This is why for years they have put a lot of time, money and effort into capturing local schoolboards.
Patric P., don’t forget the big hooraw by Bill O’Reilly about “American war crimes at Malmedy.” You know the one, where Billo accused American troops of murdering German prisoners. Gaaahhhh…
No wonder Fox viewers are the least informed if they get their “news” from the likes of Fox.
What does “proficient in history” mean? Able to recognize parallels and draw inferences about likely future outcomes based on analogies to past events? Able to suggest theories to explain societal behaviors and posit comparisons to prove or disprove those theories?
Alas, I fear not. It seems to be code for “be able to regurgitate the big wad o’ facts that the local powers that run the Texas text adoption racket deem worthy on command in a standardized testing format.”
Based on how it is taught, the purpose of history class seems to be persuading young people that Henry Ford was absolutely correct and that history is just one damn thing after another, a list of “facts” (often misremembered or distorted enough to be essentially myths) having no implications for the present at all.
I used to think Jay Leno’s “Jaywalking” segments were high entertainment. He stands out on the street and asks a half-dozen people simple questions. But one day he had an exchange with a 30-year-old professional woman. He asked if she’d seen the movie, “Pearl Harbor.”
The woman said no, but hoped to see it soon. Then Leno asked if she knew what the movie was all about. She said something like this:
“Yeah, that was the day the Hawaiians bombed California”
I can no longer watch “Jaywalking” because it truly hurts my head.
Well, you know, once you get the kids down pat on creationism, and take the time to dispel all that climate change mumbo-jumbo, there just isn’t a lot of time for the old stuff – like Paul Revere, Thomas Jefferson, the Civil War, blah, blah, blah.
Oh, and we still have to cut those fat education budgets!
This result is downstream from addiction.
That students do not understand US history is quite scary, because there has never been a better time for oblivion of our history than the current age.
Many states, as Elaine suggested, do not teach history because it is not on the test. This dumbing down is intentional and it seems to be working. Sarah Palin is a prime example of a 4th grader who doesn’t know her American HIstory.
They are teaching a lot more world history in the lower grades. Some teach civics in the 7th grade but in Texas they are required to teach Texas history along with civics. It is in 8th grade that they do a comprehensive US history course.
You can test yourself in U.S. history at the NAEP website:
http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/itmrlsx/search.aspx?subject=history
“We are raising a generation of citizens with little understanding of our national struggle for freedom beyond soundbite phrases and cartoon imagery. ”
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I give you the target audience of that bulbous demagogue Roger Ailes.
“…only 35% of fourth-graders knew the purpose of the Declaration of Independence…”
Fourth graders are 9-10 years old. Many of those who took the test may not have had an in-depth course in American history yet.
Before I make a judgment about our children’s proficiency in U.S. history, I’d like to know which children took the test and where they go to school and what the questions on the test were. I’d also like to know how the grading categories are determined.
Please note that both public and private school students were tested.
From the WSJ article:
“Only 20% of U.S. fourth-graders and 17% of eighth-graders who took the 2010 history exam were “proficient” or “advanced,” unchanged since the test was last administered in 2006. Proficient means students have a solid understanding of the material.”
AND
“In fourth grade, students who scored at or above basic are likely to know how to interpret a map about the Colonial economy. Fourth-grade students who scored proficient are likely to know that canals increased trade among states, and students scoring advanced probably would be able to explain how factories changed American work.”
AND
“Ms. Blanchette said her group wants the history test administered every two years, like the national math and reading exams, instead of every four years. ‘What gets measured, gets taught,’ she said.”
(Blanchette is president-elect of the National Council of Social Studies– a national association of K-12 and college social-studies teachers.)
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There you go. Another reason for teaching to the test.
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Otteray,
“Our local school systems do not teach civics at all. I thought one of the best classes I ever had in secondary school was 8th grade civics.”
Some school systems around these parts dropped civics courses because the course material covered wasn’t being tested on state-mandated tests. The cart is driving the horse these days. It’s become all about the tests–not about truly educating children.
and none of those are libs if the Paul Revere post is any example.
Our local school systems do not teach civics at all. I thought one of the best classes I ever had in secondary school was 8th grade civics. I never understood why civics was dropped from the curriculum unless somebody did not want people to be informed about the role and function of government.
Of course, everything I learned in that civics class has been turned on its head in the past dozen years.
No wonder people are so clueless about issues like keeping religion out of official government functions, and all too many cannot find the USA on a globe.
The GOP Agenda is succeeding….