Thursday, September 20, 2007
Civic literacy
A couple places around the interwebs I've seen articles about this civic test that was administered to college students around the country. I'll quote Cal Thomas in the Washington Times...

For the second year in a row, America's elite universities and colleges have failed to rise above a "D plus" on tests of basic knowledge about civics and American history, maintains a study commissioned by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI). In 2005, ISI contracted with the University of Connecticut's Department of Public Policy (UConnDPP) to administer tests of basic historical and civic knowledge to 14,000 students at 50 top schools, including Yale, Harvard, Cornell, the University of Virginia, Brown and Duke. The survey found students "were no better off than when they arrived in terms of acquiring the knowledge necessary for informed engagement in a democratic republic and global economy." Since an education at top colleges can cost as much as $40,000 a year, it would appear those paying the bill are being cheated.

I find that to be quite sad. But when you see the courses that these "elite" universities are offering it doesn't surprise me. I know the humanities don't get a lot of respect, but history isn't as subjective as something like, say, English. You either know your facts or you don't.

Out of curiosity I took the same test they offered to the university students, found here. It's been a long time since I've had classes so there was great potential for embarrassment. It's a 60 question test and fairly challenging. I was pleased to score a 78, which was actually above average. I wasn't so pleased to have missed a few by simple stupidity, but what can you do? I was honest and didn't Google or anything.

If anyone takes the test let me know how you did in the comments.
Written at 6:34 PM by Highlandgal.
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