Roxanne Appleby
Masterpiece
- Joined
- Aug 21, 2005
- Posts
- 11,231
"The Coming Crisis in Citizenship: Higher Education's Failure to Teach America's History and Institutions" presents scientific evidence that, for the very first time, reveals how much American colleges and universities—including some of our most elite schools—add to, or subtract from, their graduates' understanding of America's history and fundamental institutions.
The Intercollegiate Studies Institute administered a 60-question multiple-choice quiz to more than 14,000 randomly selected college freshmen and seniors at 50 colleges and universities across the country --an average of about 140 each of freshman and seniors on each campus-- to determine what they knew about America's constitutional and governmental history and policies. The colleges ran from state institutions--the University of New Mexico and the University of California at Berkeley, for example, to Ivy League schools like Yale, Brown and Harvard, and less-well-known institutions like Grove City College and Appalachian State University.
Their report presents four key findings:
FINDING 1: America's colleges and universities fail to increase knowledge about America's history and institutions.
Seniors scored just 1.5 percent higher on average than freshmen.
If the survey were administered as an exam in a college course, seniors would fail with an overall average score of 53.2 percent, or F on a traditional grading scale.
Though a university education can cost upwards of $200,000, and college students on average leave campus $19,300 in debt, they are no better off than when they arrived in terms of acquiring the knowledge necessary for informed engagement in a democratic republic and global economy.
FINDING 2: Prestige doesn't pay off.
Colleges that rank high in the U.S. News and World Report 2006 ranking were ranked low in the ISI ranking of learning in these key fields. Specifically, a 1 percent increase in civic learning as measured in our survey corresponded to a decrease of 25 positions in the U.S. News ranking.
There is no relationship between the cost of attending a college and students' acquired understanding of America's history and key institutions. Students at relatively inexpensive colleges often learn more, on average, than their counterparts at expensive colleges.
At many colleges, including Brown, Georgetown, and Yale, seniors know less than freshmen about America's history, government, foreign affairs, and economy. We characterize this phenomenon as "negative learning." A majority of the 16 schools where senior scores were actually lower than freshman scores are considered to be among the most prestigious colleges in the United States.
FINDING 3: Students don't learn what colleges don't teach.
Student learning about America's history and institutions decreases when fewer courses are taken in history, political science, government, and economics.
Schools where students took more courses in American history, political science, and economics outperformed those schools where fewer courses were completed.
Civic learning is significantly greater at schools that require students to take courses in American history, political science, and economics. Student knowledge in these key areas improves significantly at colleges that still value excellent teaching in the classroom.
FINDING 4: Greater civic learning goes hand-in-hand with more active citizenship.
Students who demonstrated greater learning of America's history and institutions were more engaged in citizenship activities such as voting, volunteer community service, and political campaigns.
ref. http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/index.html
(The report makes recommendations.)
Civics Quiz
Test your knowledge by answering the five multiple-choice questions below.
1) Which of the following are the inalienable rights referred to in the Declaration of Independence?
A. life, liberty, and property.
B. honor, liberty, and peace.
C. liberty, health, and community.
D. life, respect, and equal protection.
E. life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
2) During which period was the American Constitution amended to guarantee women the right to vote?
A. 1850 – 1875
B. 1876 – 1900
C. 1901 – 1925
D. 1926 – 1950
E. 1951 – 1975
3) In his “I Have a Dream” speech, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.:
A. argued for the abolition of slavery.
B. advocated black separatism.
C. morally defended affirmative action.
D. expressed his hopes for racial justice and brotherhood.
E. proposed that several of America’s founding ideas were discriminatory.
4) Which of the following was an alliance to resist Soviet expansion?
A. United Nations.
B. League of Nations.
C. North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
D. Warsaw Pact.
E. Asian Tigers.
5) Which of the following is the best measure of production or output of an economy?
A. Gross Domestic Product.
B. Consumer Price Index.
C. Unemployment Rate.
D. Prime Rate.
E. Exchange Rate.
(Take the quiz and get the answers at http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx )
The Intercollegiate Studies Institute administered a 60-question multiple-choice quiz to more than 14,000 randomly selected college freshmen and seniors at 50 colleges and universities across the country --an average of about 140 each of freshman and seniors on each campus-- to determine what they knew about America's constitutional and governmental history and policies. The colleges ran from state institutions--the University of New Mexico and the University of California at Berkeley, for example, to Ivy League schools like Yale, Brown and Harvard, and less-well-known institutions like Grove City College and Appalachian State University.
Their report presents four key findings:
FINDING 1: America's colleges and universities fail to increase knowledge about America's history and institutions.
Seniors scored just 1.5 percent higher on average than freshmen.
If the survey were administered as an exam in a college course, seniors would fail with an overall average score of 53.2 percent, or F on a traditional grading scale.
Though a university education can cost upwards of $200,000, and college students on average leave campus $19,300 in debt, they are no better off than when they arrived in terms of acquiring the knowledge necessary for informed engagement in a democratic republic and global economy.
FINDING 2: Prestige doesn't pay off.
Colleges that rank high in the U.S. News and World Report 2006 ranking were ranked low in the ISI ranking of learning in these key fields. Specifically, a 1 percent increase in civic learning as measured in our survey corresponded to a decrease of 25 positions in the U.S. News ranking.
There is no relationship between the cost of attending a college and students' acquired understanding of America's history and key institutions. Students at relatively inexpensive colleges often learn more, on average, than their counterparts at expensive colleges.
At many colleges, including Brown, Georgetown, and Yale, seniors know less than freshmen about America's history, government, foreign affairs, and economy. We characterize this phenomenon as "negative learning." A majority of the 16 schools where senior scores were actually lower than freshman scores are considered to be among the most prestigious colleges in the United States.
FINDING 3: Students don't learn what colleges don't teach.
Student learning about America's history and institutions decreases when fewer courses are taken in history, political science, government, and economics.
Schools where students took more courses in American history, political science, and economics outperformed those schools where fewer courses were completed.
Civic learning is significantly greater at schools that require students to take courses in American history, political science, and economics. Student knowledge in these key areas improves significantly at colleges that still value excellent teaching in the classroom.
FINDING 4: Greater civic learning goes hand-in-hand with more active citizenship.
Students who demonstrated greater learning of America's history and institutions were more engaged in citizenship activities such as voting, volunteer community service, and political campaigns.
ref. http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/index.html
(The report makes recommendations.)
Civics Quiz
Test your knowledge by answering the five multiple-choice questions below.
1) Which of the following are the inalienable rights referred to in the Declaration of Independence?
A. life, liberty, and property.
B. honor, liberty, and peace.
C. liberty, health, and community.
D. life, respect, and equal protection.
E. life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
2) During which period was the American Constitution amended to guarantee women the right to vote?
A. 1850 – 1875
B. 1876 – 1900
C. 1901 – 1925
D. 1926 – 1950
E. 1951 – 1975
3) In his “I Have a Dream” speech, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.:
A. argued for the abolition of slavery.
B. advocated black separatism.
C. morally defended affirmative action.
D. expressed his hopes for racial justice and brotherhood.
E. proposed that several of America’s founding ideas were discriminatory.
4) Which of the following was an alliance to resist Soviet expansion?
A. United Nations.
B. League of Nations.
C. North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
D. Warsaw Pact.
E. Asian Tigers.
5) Which of the following is the best measure of production or output of an economy?
A. Gross Domestic Product.
B. Consumer Price Index.
C. Unemployment Rate.
D. Prime Rate.
E. Exchange Rate.
(Take the quiz and get the answers at http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx )
)
