What’s this? A conservative hero and a liberal icon are out
stumping for the same issue? It’s true.
Conservative-Republican-Reagan-cabinet member-and-author Bill
Bennett, and liberal-Democrat-Al Gore-advisor-and-author Naomi Wolf
are both worried that Americans are not learning their own history
or civics. Though Ms. Wolf draws her customary wrong conclusions
(it’s the evil Bush’s fault!), the two have good cause to worry.
Just look at these headlines: “College Students Fail Civics Test;”
“College Students Knowledge of American Presidents is Poor;”
“College Seniors Lack Basic Knowledge in American History.” Not
very good news, but what can account for the fact that young
Americans don’t know America?
“Students learn almost nothing about civic matters while they
are in college,” says Josiah Bunting, chairman of the
Intercollegiate Studies Institute’s National Civic Literacy Board.
“Our students neither enter nor exit their universities with a
level of civic literacy that even approaches a satisfactory
level.”
How bad is this knowledge deficit? According to a report from News Blaze, “college seniors
achieved less than 60 percent correct on a series of questions
about U.S. presidents.” One survey found that professors believe 81
percent of college seniors are at a D or F grade level when it
comes to American history. In addition, the survey found that many
college seniors had a difficult time identifying words from the
Gettysburg Address or identifying main concepts from the
Constitution.
Historian David McCullough testified to Congress that American
elementary and high school students test even weaker in U.S.
history than in reading and math. Defenders point out that the
results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP),
administered by the U.S. Department of Education to fourth, eighth,
and twelfth grades, show scores in U.S. history improving. That is
good news. But a closer look shows the highest percentages in the
Basic level and the lowest percentages in Proficient and Advanced
levels. For example, fourth grade scores show only 2 percent
Advanced, 18 percent Proficient, 70 percent Basic, and 10 percent
below Basic. Still, NAEP is quick to point out that the Basic level
has increased from 64 to 70 percent since 1994. Good news,
certainly, but the number of students below proficient — Basic and
below Basic — is 80 percent. In eighth-grade the combination of
Basic and below covers 82 percent of students, and in twelfth-grade
that figure rises to 86 percent, with only 13 percent Proficient
and 1 percent Advanced. Does this mean that American students learn
less as they get older?
Says Bennett: “It is not our children’s fault. Our country’s
adults are expected to instill a love of country in its children,
but the greatness and purpose of that country are mocked by the
chattering classes. Newspaper columns and television reports drip
with a constant cynicism about America while doubts about her
motives on the world stage are the coin of the realm. Too many
commentators are too ready to believe the worst about our leaders
and our country, and our children’s history books — and even some
of the teachers — close off any remaining possibility of helping
children learn about their country.”
Moreover, he blames “dull and tendentious textbooks used in
American schools. College students do worst in American history
because most of the books are very large and boring, or they’re so
politically correct they’re off-putting.” Political correctness
goes as far as describing the Pilgrims as “people who took long
trips, saying nothing about their religious beliefs. They’ve killed
the subject for the kids and that’s the worst sin of
all…[America’s history] is the greatest political story ever
told.”
It’s been said that if you want to destroy a country, destroy
its memory. Are we destroying ours? Liberal feminist idol Naomi
Wolf thinks so and warns in writing about being defenseless against
fascists (that would be Bush and the Republicans, of course.) She
offers no solution. Bennett and other educators worry as well, but
have offered answers through curriculum design, through support of
education reform, and through numerous books (including Mr.
Bennett’s two new American history textbooks).
Let’s hope someone is listening to at least one of them.
