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Arizona High Schools Get an "F" in Civics
- 30-6-09
Arizona High Schools Get an "F" in Civics
Survey reveals only 3.5 percent of Arizona public high school students could pass citizenship test
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Phoenix--Just in time to celebrate Independence Day, a new survey of 1,300 Arizona public high school students reveals that only 3.5 percent have enough basic civics knowledge to pass a U.S. citizenship test. The details of the survey were released by the Goldwater Institute today in "Freedom from Responsibility: A Survey of Civic Knowledge Among Arizona High School Students."
The report's findings are based on a telephone survey conducted by Strategic Vision, LLC. The firm tested the civic knowledge of Arizona high school students by asking 10 questions taken from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) exam. In order to become U.S. citizens, new immigrants are asked 10 questions and must correctly answer six of them. The first-time passing rate for immigrants is 92.4 percent. The survey found that only 3.5 percent of Arizona high school students would pass the exam.
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Survey questions include:
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1. What is the supreme law of the land?
Answer: The Constitution
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2. Who was the first President?
Answer: Washington
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3. We elect a U.S. Senator for how many years?
Answer: Six
"The results of this survey are deeply troubling," said Matthew Ladner, Ph.D., vice president of research at the Goldwater Institute. "Despite the billions of dollars poured into education, Arizona high school students display a profound level of ignorance about American history, government and geography."
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An understanding of government and history are crucial to the preservation of liberty and our democratic institutions. Furthermore, the promotion of civic knowledge continues to serve as a major justification for public schools and the billions spent funding social studies, government and history courses. This survey suggests Arizona's schools fail to teach the most fundamental information required for citizenship.
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Although all three groups of Arizona high school students surveyed--public, charter and private high school students--scored alarmingly low on the test, charter and private school students scored slightly better. The passing rate for charter schools was about two times higher than in traditional public schools and private school students passed at a rate almost four-times higher than traditional public school.
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The report calls on Arizona lawmakers to require students to pass the USCIS citizenship exam, administered by a third party, as a condition for receiving a high school diploma, or that Arizona universities use it as a pre-condition for admittance. Ultimately, students should have a basic working knowledge of American history and government in order to graduate, Dr. Ladner said.
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"Our schools should be required to graduate students that are prepared to fully engage in civic life," Dr. Ladner said. "At the very least, they should be able to identify the U.S. Constitution."
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"Freedom from Responsibility" is available online. The Goldwater Institute is a nonprofit public policy research and litigation organization whose work is made possible by the generosity of its supporters.
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When I taught in Michigan in the '60's, it was only required that students have a semester of Civics, not that they had to demonstrate comprehension. Apparently now the situation is far worse, at least here in Arizona. Humiliating, to say the least.Â
Purely a guess, but I'd say that too much time is spent preparing students to be industry drones and not enough time on participation in public affairs -- except when the teacher wants everyone to write to their Congressman in support of the teacher's pet cause. It's especially true in Arizona that the public schools have been sold out to the needs of private industry, instead of the needs of the individual students.Â
And perhaps too much is spent learning about cultures that have failed and not enough about ones that have succeeded.
seems to me that these children are hardly prepared to be industry drones.....whatever that is....i personally have never met a drone but I have met a lot of these kids and they are tech savy....most of them help Grandma with the computer and the mobile phone. most of them are very clever at skilled computer games that require thinking through problems....I have a niece and nephew whose have Master degrees and yet neith one of them can discus basic level physics, philosophy or poetry comprehension. the problem with the teachers is that they were not taught but indoctrinated. Teachers prefer Harry Potter to non-fiction.....it is hilarious and you can hear it for yourself.....pick any lecture at Academic Earth by a professor from Harvard or Yale.....in my day we were at the professors throat not their feet
Reg Felt, I have taught Social Studies in both Michigan (Flint) and Arizona (Queen Creek). I always marvel that so many people subscribe to the "corporate conspiracy" that seeks to have schools produce well-trained automatons. Sorry, no such secret plan.Â
But, you are spot-on about teachers limiting (and directing) all discussions to their points-of-view and pet causes. This is very unfortunate, but true. I agree with your description of "humiliating."
To clarify, businesses used to be responsible for testing and training new employees regarding needed job skills, but the business community has persuaded most public school systems to take on that responsibility, at public expense. That's what's behind the drive for "proficiency exams" in order to receive a high school diploma. That kids are "tech savvy" is simply part of their being qualified to work in today's high tech industries. That's what I meant by "drones." Whenever there is a budget crunch, as there always is, it's Art, Music, Social Studies and athletics that are routinely cast aside in favor of Math and Science, areas of more interest to industry than to the individual student. Professional educators tell me that I'm not alone in my observations, by the way.
For too many years teachers and professors have failed to teachour American history, starting with the Constitution and the details our wonderful legacy. They have left out the history
that gives us the pride we should have in our country, and the
price that has been paid for the freedom and liberty we have
that we are losing so fast to un-Americanism. Â