4 Out Of 5 College Srs. Don't Know Basic American History

[kuozzman]

http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/news/050222a.asp

(CBN News) - As the nation observes the 273rd anniversary of George Washington's birth, our first president's accomplishments are fading from the nation's consciousness. Many public school children no longer learn about President Washington in the classroom.

Some states have even removed required teaching about Washington from their standards of learning (SOLs), saying specific instruction about Washington is not needed.

James Rees is the executive director of Mt. Vernon, George Washington's home.

Rees said, “I think the concept that people will learn about Washington, Jefferson, Adams through some sort of osmosis is ridiculous.”

He added, “To think that generations of Americans are not being introduced to this hero, this great leader, is in my mind inexcusable, and quite shameful.”

But school children are not learning about great Americans like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. They are not learning a lot of other basics of American history, either. And it is a problem that is getting worse.

A recent survey conducted by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni shows that four out of five seniors from the top 55 colleges and universities received a grade of "D" or "F" on their knowledge of American history. They could not identify Valley Forge, famous words from the Gettysburg Address, or even the basic principles of the Constitution.

[redqueen]

1. "... or even the basic principles of the Constitution."

Of all of those, I find this one the least surprising.

[murray hill farm]

3. Please............

there are priorities to consider here...and history is not one of them....understanding of history might make one think!

[elemnopee]

43. BS

I don't buy this. 4 out 5 are you kidding me. How many college seniors would take a non-graded History test seriously?

I went to a "conservative" school and still recieved incredible instruction in history, propganda text book intertwined with Zinn.

DUer's the sky is not falling at America's universities.

[qanda]

2. Why do they need to learn about Washington

When all know that Reagan was the greatest President ever. :eyes:

[Rose Siding]

4. Can't have a conservative revolution if kids know American history

[bluestateguy]

5. I'm all for diversity of curriculum

But history of the so called "dead white men" simply cannot be ignored in public schools. I know that can be a challenge in school districts where a majority of the students are non-white, but Washington, Hamilton, Madison and Jefferson are all part of our history. Students who grow up ignorant of our history become uninformed adult voters: people who believe that Saddam was involved in 9/11; that the WMD's have been found; that Bush is popular around the world; and Social Security is going to go bankrupt in 10 years.

[Tomee450]

13. I have

friends who are history teachers. I've seen some of the books they use and those books certainly do not ignore the contributions of the white men you have mentioned. I think a lot of conservatives don't like the fact that the contributions of non whites are now also being included in textbooks.

[Tansy_Gold]

32. HS American History teacher, ca. 2000

I swear to you all that this is a true story.

In the fall of 2000, I was a brand new graduate student in a brand new graduate program at an Arizona university. My first class was titled "Models of Inquiry" and was supposed to be a focused study of a selected issue of contemporary American culture. The professor had chosen "affirmative action" as that issue.

I was not alone as a "mature" student in this class, but several of the members were of a more traditional age, in their early 20s. One was a young man whom I will simply call "Doug." "Doug" was also a recent graduate of this same university and he identified himself as a teacher of American History at a local high school.

Now, there had been some considerable scandal regarding the education of some of the teachers who had come out of some of the Arizona universities. In particular, one study showed that many of them could not pass tests designed to verify their knowledge in the particular fields they were teaching, i.e. how well English teachers could write a paragraph or how much biology teachers knew about cell division or whether history teachers knew anything about history. We in that class would soon find out how poorly prepared at least one of our Arizona teachers was.

In the course of the semester, we engaged in many interesting discussions related to the development and implementation of affirmative action policies and we explored the issue from both the pro and con sides. It became clear that "Doug" was firmly on the "con" side, that he was a committed conservative who worshipped Ronald Reagan as the greatest American president ever. ("Doug" actually said this in another class, but that's another story.) One evening, "Doug" ventured to ask a question regarding the 60s, an era that had passed before his birth, and how "movements" related to the original LBJ Executive Order that established affirmative action.

I took the floor to respond to him.

"You have to understand, Doug, that the 60s was a time of various movements that challenged the status quo from a grassroots level: the women's movement, the civil rights movement, the free speech movement, the anti-war movement. . . ."

"Doug" snickered loud enough to interrupt me.

"And what 'war' would that be?" he asked with sarcasm dripping from his tongue. "The cold war?"

A collective gasp rose from the dozen or so students in the class.

"No," I replied, utterly perplexed that he hadn't a clue, and yet aware that "the war Reagan won" would have a prime place in his view of history. "The Vietnam War."

"Oh," he said.

"You have heard of the Vietnam War, correct?" I asked.

"Yeah, I guess so."

I wanted to stand on a table and scream at him, "AND YOU CALL YOURSELF A TEACHER OF AMERICAN HISTORY? YOUR STUDENTS WOULD DO BETTER IF A FUCKING WART HOG TAUGHT THEM!"

But I didn't.

Eventually he dropped the class, and the other we took together. I do not know what happened to him or if he is still teaching.

Again, this is a true story.

(edited to fix numerous typos. tansy should be less impatient to post.)

[DrWeird]

6. Consider the source.

CBN

[kevinmc]

10. CBN.........

This is another Pat Roberson production trying to sell a revisionist history book, the author of this crapola is known on Free Republic as LS. In this piece of crap Grover Cleveland is a god. I thought there where rules about posting crap on this site.

[Trillo]

7. I really have difficulty believing this

When I went to school, they bored me to death with redundant lessons on history EVERY YEAR, as far back as I can remember. Students weren't allowed to be redundant in anything they wrote, but that didn't stop the curricula itself from the same ill.

[serryjw]

50. I have a dear friend that is 40

and everything he knows of the 60's he learned from me....After being on our college campus extensively with a 'get out and vote' drive; many know nothing about much of our foundation. They have no respect for the Constitution and many had no problem with the Patriots Act.

[maxsolomon]

8. why learn cherry tree, never told a lie, when that's BS?

kids SHOULD learn about GW, warts & all, but not just Valley Forge & the Revolutionary War. why was he a great PRESIDENT?

junior year history isn't enough, but even that it isn't really made compelling for kids, especially disenfranchised minorities.

i had a American History multi-book series i grew up with. i read every book cover to cover when i was very young. it was kinda rah rah, but i knew at 10, for instance, that america was a colonial power, and what Jingoism was. Mom & Dad did bought that, not school. and my younger siblings never gave 2 shits about it.

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. CBN for once may have one story right

I saw my brother in law's kids not know the most basic elements of US History and even the Contitution or the Bill of Rights. Perish the thuoght if they shuould know their rights huh?

[gumby]

11. Pat Robertson's "news" service

reports on a survey done by Lynne Cheney's group.

BZZZZZTTTTT.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

12. this is bullshit! my children have gone to schools in both NY & NJ and I..

went to school in Florida and they all were taught American History in both grammer and high school...this is a big lie that the neocons have perpertrated on the public in their attack and attempts to dismantle public education in order to implement their christian "intelligent design" creationism ....if anyone believes this crap about failing american schools i have a bridge to sell ya!

[HockeyMom]

23. New York State Regents

now requires 4 years of Social Studies in HS. In addition, in Senior year they are ALL required to take Participation in Government. That means OUTSIDE of a classroom, volunteer type work. My daughter helped register voters and sat in at local town board meetings (and wrote a report on what was said).

[ElsewheresDaughter]

26. exactly!..my 12 year old daughter just started a civics club in her rural

middle school (total student body K-12 is 420)....so far 23 students have joined.

[Baconfoot]

14. For goodness sake - School children ARE taught about Washington

1)In most states it IS required.
2)Such facts are contained in ALL textbooks which are used for American history classes. Information about Washingon et al is not redacted.
3)Teachers are not restricted to teaching merely what they are REQUIRED to teach and in fact NO teacher actually does this. Just think of the man hours it would involved to take EVERY sentence uttered by a teacher and match it up to the guidelines. It would take more time than prep and classtime combined. Therefore, due to time constraints, teachers CANNOT insure that everything they say is said in services of teaching something they are required to teach.

I make the following bold assertion - every child who has gone through the public school system in the last 50 years from grade 1 through 12 has had FORMAL education regarding the founding fathers AT LEAST TWICE.

[Megahurtz]

15. Maybe they don't want to know

(sarcasm)

[JI7]

16. this helps explain the Reagan being greatest President poll

what a joke that was.

[Cooley Hurd]

55. That was in the Gallup poll...

...and we know which way Gallup swings.

[Guaranteed]

17. What in the hell....??

In one thread you guys are complaining about high schoolers thinking that the government should be vetting information put out by the media, and that unpopular opinions should be illegal- and then in this thread you're acting as if our teaching of history and the Constitution is fine???

To me, it is clear that our kids are learning way too much from the CONSERVATIVE pieces of crap on TV, and not enough about the principles our country was founded on in school.

[Scooter24]

18. At my university,

we are required to have 3 hours of History for our General Education requirement.

I personally took "History of the Ancient Near East and Egypt" and "Warfare and Diplomacy" to meet my requirements.

American History is just one of a hundred or more choices available to most college students.

[Baconfoot]

19. The article doesn't say which states

does anybody know?
I am looking at state standards one by one and haven't found any so far where "Washington" etc. is missing.

[kevinmc]

20. ACTA and Lynne V. Cheney enough for me...............

The American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) is a 501(c)(3), tax-exempt, nonprofit, educational organization committed to academic freedom, excellence and accountability at America's colleges and universities.

Founded in 1995, and formerly known as the National Alumni Forum, ACTA is the only national organization that is dedicated to working with alumni, donors, trustees and education leaders across the country to support liberal arts education, uphold high academic standards, safeguard the free exchange of ideas on campus, and ensure that the next generation receives a philosophically-balanced, open-minded, high-quality education at an affordable price.

ACTA was launched by former National Endowment for the Humanities chairman Lynne V. Cheney, former Governor Richard D. Lamm of Colorado, Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut, distinguished social scientist David Riesman, Nobel Laureate Saul Bellow and others.

ACTA works with college and university trustees to ensure responsible management of higher education resources, end grade inflation, establish a solid core curriculum, and restore intellectual diversity on campus.

ACTA has members from over 400 colleges and universities. Its quarterly publication, Inside Academe, goes to over 12,000 readers, including 3,500+ college and university trustees.

[BrotherBuzz]

21. 4 out of 5 Christian fundamentalists don't know basic theology

CBN, is that by design?

[Zenlitened]

22. Gee... the right wing attacking our nation's public schools.

THAT hardly ever happens! :crazy:

[IndianaGreen]

24. Which version of American history are we talking about?

The bullshit crap we were fed about the noble white settlers that settled this land under Divine Guidance, or the ugly truth about the genocide of the native peoples, slavery, racism, anti-Semitism, and the nearly 150-years of anti-Socialist propaganda?

[DivinBreuvage]

40. You go too far off the deep end the other way

Sure, what is usually foisted off on us in our schools as "history" is a whitewashed Hallmark card, but you are just as misguided to forget that America has also given birth to concepts like the inalienable rights of man and the separation of church and state; documents like the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, the Emancipation Proclamation, the 13th Amendment, the 19th Amendment, and Civil Rights legislation; the Depression-fighting policies of Franklin Roosevelt; and even white men (gasp!) like Roger Calef, Thomas Paine, John Brown, Eugene Debs, and on and on and on.

Take everything you hate about America and look at South America, Africa, Asia, Australia, and most especially Europe: how many nations can you find that are free of these same sins? Do you seriously think we should blush at our history before the likes of England, France, Spain, or Russia? What nation on earth is obliged to feel historically ashamed in the presence of Germany? Now of course the Germans have learned some big lessons and made some immense improvements; too bad it only took them 1,945 years.

I absolutely agree that America has largely failed to live up to its promise, and is actually backsliding at the moment; but at the same time this country has done better than most, all things considered. The very reason that so many of us here oppose the current administration is because we ourselves are solidly grounded in that very real historical American strain that you so callously discard.

[Art_from_Ark]

49. Those are all noble concepts, and I am glad they are part of American

heritage, but not all are uniquely American.

For example, the "inalienable rights of man" was a concept introduced by the 17th century British philosopher John Locke. Locke's writings had a tremendous influence on the writers of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.

http://www.mhhe.com/mayfieldpub/lawhead/chapter6/locke_bill_of_rights.htm

The abolition of slavery by the 13th Amendment was preceded by the French in 1794 (although Napoleon reintroduced slavery in 1802 and it was not completely reabolished until 1848). The British abolished slavery in all British territories in 1833.

The 19th Amendment, which gave adult American women the right to vote in 1920, had been preceded by New Zealand's granting of suffrage to women in 1893. For what it's worth, though, the modern women's suffrage movement got its start in 1848, and both British and American women were active in the movement. And Wyoming became the first US territory to give women the right to vote, in 1869 (hence the nickname "Equality State")

[karynnj]

25. Maybe I'd like to see the top 55 colleges and

universities list where they asked students these questions. Some of these students may not have had American history since their Junior year in High school. (As a math/economics major I wouldn't have.) If they are testing what they learn in high school, shouldn't they be testing high school kids.

I know that in the schools my kids have gone to in NJ, in high school, they have 2 required years of US history (1 yr world history and many electives - including a semester of Constitutional Law). If they are really looking at top schools, a fair number of the kids would have taken and done well on AP US History and would likely have taken the CL elective.

They also have a year of US history in 6 th grade and some US history in elementary school.

My guess is the majority of students in the high school here would know most of the above - and all of those applying to top schools would have done very well on it.

[NYC]

27. Is "history" called by another name these days?

...And 78 percent of colleges and universities do not require students to take any history at all...

Is that likely? Perhaps the courses now have a new name that does not include the word "history".

When I went to college, 3 or 4 history courses were required. Of those required, only two were optional, the remaining one or two (I just can't remember) had to be American history.

For the optional history courses, I took European history and Latin American history. They were both good courses.

[Mr. Sinister]

28. Bring back Schoolhouse Rock!!!

Everything important about American History (and multiplication)
I learned from that PSA. I can still sing the Preamble to the
Constitution and who can forget Bill whose only a Bill sitting
up on Capitol Hill?

[Sgent]

29. My school

(abiet an engineering school) never required an Am. History class or Western Civ to graduate. I would be willing to bet that many undergrads without a liberal arts degree are in the same boat.

I DID have to have a history class (and took the History of Am Diplomacy in the 20th Century), but not a specific history class. I had strong western civ and am history AP classes in HS, so actually got more out of the class I did take.

[Mr. Sinister]

30. I actually did go to a lib arts college

which had virtually no requirements. Nevertheless I was a history major and was always fascinated by any history -- so I don't really count. But most everyone I knew growing up didn't know boo about history and were eager to stay that way.

[DivinBreuvage]

42. Yeah, my favorite Schoolhouse Rock song: "Elbow Room"!

(Just kidding!) Actually my favorite is "No More Kings". I do wish they'd bring them back, or something similar. PBS does a Revolutionary War cartoon called "Liberty's Kids", but it's really pretty sucky.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

31. I think that this varies tremendously from state to state and

district to district.

In my Minnesota school district, we had American history twice, once in seventh grade and once in tenth. It was taught in a pretty cut and dried manner, and we didn't finish the book either time.

Personally, I would rather have seen a continuous two-year course on American history followed by a three-year course on world history with U.S. topics cycled in as they were relevant. I would also change the way it is taught: less memorization of dates and battles and more social history (how people lived in ancient times, for example) and thought experiments (What would life have been like for someone of your age, race, and gender in such and such a period? What might have happened if the U.S. had never made the Louisiana Purchase?).

[tcoursen]

33. None of this suprises me

None of this really suprises me. I get the sense that a lot of people that I meet just don't know this stuff.

I was shocked last Saturday night. My wife and I had some friends over. Two couples. My kids are there and they are sitting at the kitchen table. My 6 year old is playing with his leappad. One of the games that he has on the leapad is a game where you have to identify the states on a map. There is a map on the page of the US and each state is a differant color. It is a timed game and you get I think 30 seconds. The voice of the game will name the state and you click on it with the little pen thingy. If you get it wrong they give you clues and you keep guessing until you get it right. My 6 year old loves it. The way the thing is timed and the way the voice slowly tells you the state to find an adult that is fast and gets everything right can usually get 20 in the time alloted. At least that is what my wife and I can normally get.

Anyway, the friends see the kids playing the game and try it. I was shocked when they started playing. These people knew NOTHING. They were getting like 4 or 5. It was pathetic. The game would say "please find South Dakota" and the person would click on like Arkansas. Then when they finally did click on the right place, after clicking about 20 wrong states, they would say "how can South Dakota be so far North?" These are people that range in age from 35 to late 40's.

So when I see these types of things that show how little the general population knows, it doesn't suprise me.

[JohnyCanuck]

41. How can South Dakota be so far North?" LOL n/t

[prairierose]

52. I've had people say to me online......"South Dakota

you mean that's a real place? I thought it was something from history or mythology and that it no longer existed" They see Deadwood on HBO and then when they come here are disappointed that it doesn't look the same. They just don't seem to understand that Deadwood is filmed in CA. It amazes me every tourist season.
:shrug:

[AgadorSparticus]

53. i guess i took it for granted but i thought every kid cannot get passed

elementary school without doing one school play with an American history theme. doesn't it seem like every school does this?

doing the play taught us all about the various cultural aspects in the different regions (lumberjacks in the NW, puritans on the east coast, cowboys in texas, etc.) and for the coup de graz, there was a song that listed all the states. by the end of 6th grade, we all knew where all the states are in the nation.

how can you be a homegrown adult and not know where the states are? or atleast a general direction for the not so popular ones? :shrug:

[finecraft]

34. Message from a house of history majors

Got my degree in history in 1980, my husband got his in 1976, and my son just graduated with his this year.(along with a degree in Political Science---am I proud of him? You bet I am, so I'm gonna brag!)

Here's how our country values a history degree from a major university: Me - Administrative Assistant in a marketing office, Husband - Blackjack/Roulette dealer in a casino, Son- Marketing manager for a medical practice. The general population views a degree in history as useless. A person with a history degree does not compete in the job market on the same level with other college graduates....they put us in the same category as those that receive a trade school or junior college certificate. No.... let me rephrase that- we're thought of as more useless than someone that has a certificate in welding or office system technologies. It's a bloody shame.

[tcoursen]

35. well

Well, a welder has a specific skill. Not exactly sure what "Office system technologies" specifically means, but sounds like it might be something a business might need. What exactly does a fresh right out of college history major have that the business world is going to be looking for when compared to other college graduates?

Outside of teaching, what kind of jobs are history majors going to be qualified for? Maybe I am missing something but to me it doesn't seem like a history degree is going to be the type of thing that is going to open a lot of doors in the business world.

I have an aunt and a cousin who were history majors. Neither one of them uses the degree.

[prairierose]

36. Once upon a time, even business liked liberal arts majors...

because the most important thing they used to learn was how to make connections between diverse bits of information.

I guess my knowledge of American history is colored by the fact that both of my parents had been teachers and they were/are both history nuts. I have visited very Revolutionary & Civil war battlefield & read all of the plaques explaining them. Or maybe it is because I too learned to love history.

I took civics in 8th grade and that was 1 semester devoted to nothing but how our government used to work and our responsibilities as citizens. I had one whole year of Am. history in HS and a semester of Government. I took Western Civ my freshman year in college(it was required then) and a year of AM history the next year.

Today, I use the Declaration of Independence to teach argumentation. Most of my students(freshmen in college) seem never to have heard or read it before. Now, I'm betting that somewhere in their previous academic careers, some teacher tried to get it through to them but they were too busy sleeping or not in class that day or listening to music or some other pathetic excuse. What I saw in the time I spent in high schools (subbing & consulting) was that many students were gone for several days a week because they were involved in extracurricular activities that took them out of school.

At any rate, I plan to continue to teach the Declaration

[tcoursen]

38. Once upon a time

Once upon a time did they have all the varied and specialized majors in college that they have now?

Seems to me there are a lot more majors and even specialties within majors. So if you are a business hiring, you can find somebody with a closer set of skills for what you are looking for.

I think when I was in high school two years of American history was all that was required. I don't think that that is enough. It should be required for all 4 years. My wife's cousin just graduated high school last year. He is pretty smart, got good grades and all that. I don't think he was in the highest honors classes, or whatever they call them now, but was probably the next level down. Seems to me that what he learned in high school is a lot less than what people my age were taught ( I'm 35 ). But of course I am basing that on 1 kid and what I read in threads like this.

History electives were among my favorites in college. I had a double major in CS and math so I didn't have that much room for electives. Would have taken more history electives if I could have. The history department seemed to have a more varied range of classes than a lot of the other departments.

[finecraft]

51. How true...critical and analytical thinking used to be considered good

We have an MBA student interning with us this year. Every bit of economics, business analysis and marketing she studies in class is accompanied by a pre-defined boilerplate spreadsheet or form. Every comparative analytical equation that is used is already plugged into the worksheet. These students never need to formulate how you get from point a to point g from scratch...just plug figures into the spreadsheet (where the formulas are already provided), and spit out the conclusion. A new generation of business robots....just input the numbers in the spreadsheet.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

44. Until the mid 1970s, businesses took liberal arts majors

and trained them in-house. When I was in grad school, I knew an undergraduate who was hired by a major international bank with a self-designed major in Modern Greek studies.

When I went on informational interviews in the early 1980s, most of the execs I talked to had been liberal arts majors: music, math, history, English.

However, they told me that if they would not be considered qualified for their former entry-level jobs today (i.e. the 1980s), because the top-top management guys had told the human resources department to weed out anyone who didn't have a business degree. This was despite the fact that liberal arts majors were doing just fine in the business world.

So, here I was, out of grad school (with a Ph.D. and proficiency in Japanese at a time when Japan was the flavor of the month) five years after friends of mine in French and Japanese history had chucked their academic ambitions for lucrative careers in the business world, and I was told, "You'd be really employable if you had an MBA." Go figure.

As for your comment about colleges having more majors, that is a RESPONSE to the changes in the job market, not a cause of the changes. In order to survive, college departments began trying to devise interdisciplinary majors that would lead to specific jobs. I was teaching on the college level when that happened. The foreign language departments got together with the business department to create a major in international business, for example, but only so people would keep taking foreing language courses.

[bleedingheart]

37. look at our society....we reward idiocy..there is no respect for learning

sorry but even if they are taught it...doesn't mean they will want to remember it...

[Rex]

39. CBN - like these religious freaks know anything about anything.

Hardly a news source IMO. FWIW, I've seen trasher (DRUDGE) news sources, but I would bet the people at CBN don't know jack about history.

[SoCalDem]

45. Bah!! We spit on history,, Who needs it any way?

We know for a fact that you do not "need" it to become president, or to raid a major corporation and send employees careening down the poverty chute.

Perhaps the reason we keep "repeating" the same old mistakes .....hmmmm..:evilgrin:

Now all we need is a snazzy video game of history.. cannot "go to the next level" without answering history questions correctly..

there are tons of cheat codes on line, though...But then if they take the time to look them up, they might actually learn some stuff..

Getting the fairy tales out of their brains is half the battle..

[Zerex71]

46. Doesn't surprise me one bit.

This country is getting stupider by the minute.

[SodoffBush]

47. I'll bet they know a lot of historic myths and fables

Do they count?

[PittPoliSci]

48. bullshit.

that's all i have to say, bull fucking shit.

[hector459]

54. I know American History and believe me, we ain't that "great."

If history is taught like it was when I was in school...40-60's they won't get the truth anyway. We have successfully re-written history to always make the US look good. Remember just like in Iraq, we invaded this nation and the Native Americans became our first "terrorists."
Oh, but we were "pioneers" so that gave us the right to grab land, kill the inhabitants, pollute the environment, and destroy a culture.