Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Scary Findings on Civic Literacy
The nation’s institutions of higher learning—especially those with a high price tag and an “elite” title attached to them—are failing to adequately teach U.S. history, civics, and free market economics to their students. This is the finding of the 2007 study of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, which randomly sampled 14,000 students at 50 universities and administered a 60 question multiple choice exam to them.
This year, the average score for freshman was 50.4%, for seniors 54.7%, both considered failing grades. Harvard had the highest senior average, 69%. ISI also measures the “knowledge gain” by examining senior scores against freshman scores and examining the difference. Three Ivy League schools saw a knowledge loss as the freshman score was higher than the senior score. As reported in the newspaper, nearby Grove City College had a senior average score of 67% (second highest in the sample) and saw a positive gain of 3.62 percentage points above the freshman score. Carnegie Mellon seniors scored 56.9% and the gain was a positive 2.84 points.
Most stunning is that ISI figures a 5 year old would score 20% on the exam by guessing. By freshman year, that student would score the average 50%, a 30 point gain. But by the senior year, the average gain would be only additional 4 points. The annual gain in college is about half of the pre-college years.
The ISI notes that it is not all that bad: colleges and universities are starting programs devoted to institutions and Constitutional government, but the message is clear that higher education is doing precious little to expand the knowledge and understanding its graduates have of the nation’s history, the working of its governments, or how the world’s largest economy operates.
In a parody of Santayana’s famous quote, “those who do not know history won’t recognize history when it happens again”.
This year, the average score for freshman was 50.4%, for seniors 54.7%, both considered failing grades. Harvard had the highest senior average, 69%. ISI also measures the “knowledge gain” by examining senior scores against freshman scores and examining the difference. Three Ivy League schools saw a knowledge loss as the freshman score was higher than the senior score. As reported in the newspaper, nearby Grove City College had a senior average score of 67% (second highest in the sample) and saw a positive gain of 3.62 percentage points above the freshman score. Carnegie Mellon seniors scored 56.9% and the gain was a positive 2.84 points.
Most stunning is that ISI figures a 5 year old would score 20% on the exam by guessing. By freshman year, that student would score the average 50%, a 30 point gain. But by the senior year, the average gain would be only additional 4 points. The annual gain in college is about half of the pre-college years.
The ISI notes that it is not all that bad: colleges and universities are starting programs devoted to institutions and Constitutional government, but the message is clear that higher education is doing precious little to expand the knowledge and understanding its graduates have of the nation’s history, the working of its governments, or how the world’s largest economy operates.
In a parody of Santayana’s famous quote, “those who do not know history won’t recognize history when it happens again”.
