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{ 2008 02 26 }

Don’t know much about history, and even less about literature

From a recent survey of 1200 public school teenagers

43% knew the Civil War was fought between 1850 and 1900.

52% could identify the theme of 1984.

51% knew that the controversy surrounding Sen. Joseph McCarthy focused on communism.

In all, students earned a C in history and an F in literature, though the survey suggests students do well on topics schools cover. For instance, 88% knew the bombing of Pearl Harbor led the USA into World War II, and 97% could identify Martin Luther King Jr. as author of the “I Have a Dream” speech.

Fewer (77%) knew Uncle Tom’s Cabin helped end slavery a century earlier.

What I take from this is the inherent danger of letting government dictate the curriculum. They are deciding what history is important to learn, and what isn’t. That is a decision much better left to the individual.

Posted by Chris ODonnell on Tuesday, February 26, 2008, at 11:22 am. Filed under Education. Tagged . Follow any responses to this post with its comments RSS feed. Both comments and trackbacks are currently closed.

{ 2 } Comments

  1. Lynn | February 26, 2008 at 3:39 pm | Permalink

    Too much time spent teaching to the test, some are saying. Poor ps teachers; they can’t win. Poor kids, pawns in the game.

    I tried (briefly, w/o success) to learn more about Common Core, as I’m wondering if the group’s (social engineering?) objectives may be scarier than these test results…

  2. RedMolly | February 27, 2008 at 9:49 pm | Permalink

    Honestly, I think it would be good for everyone to understand at least the rudiments of some common cultural touchstones. It’s not that hard. It pays off in massive not-feeling-like-an-idiot dividends.

    Does that mean I have to surrender my unschooler credentials and report to the nearest Susan Wise Bauer-approved reeducation academy ASAP? I share Lynn’s serious misgivings about the ideological motivations behind Common Core and similar movements…