I don't profess to be any kind of scholar in history in general I do claim
to be well versed in the areas of history that I post on and about.
From my posting over the many years I have been posting here I can see the
truth in the following article
THE REVIEW, SEPT 23, 2007 PAGE 2C COLUMNS 3-5
EAST LIVERPOOL, OHIO
WHERE ARE THE STUDENTS' BRAINS?
CAL THOMAS
"If you can read this, thank a teacher," says the bumper sticker on the car
in front of me. But literacy is more than the ability to read a bumper
sticker. It also includes the accumulation of basic knowledge combined with
a way of thinking that allows an individual to lead a life that is
personally productive and contributes to America's health and welfare.
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's (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 that 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 that those paying the bill are being cheated.
ISI' s final report entitled "The Coming Crisis in Citizenship: Higher
Education's Failure to Teach America's History and Institutions," presented
four pivotal findings:
1. The average college senior knows very little about America's history,
government, international relations and market economy. Their average score
on the civic literacy test was 53.2 percent. "No class of seniors
sbOre'd'higher than 69 percent, or D plus."
2. Prestige doesn't pay off. "An Ivy League education contributes nothing
to a student's civic learning. ... There is no relationship between the
cost of attending college and the mastery of America's history, politics,
and economy."
3. Students don't learn what colleges don't teach. "Schools where students
took or were required to take more courses related to America's history and
institutions," says the ISI, "outperformed those schools where fewer
courses were completed. The absence of required courses in American
history, political science, philosophy and economics suggests a negative
impact on students' civic literacy."
America's most prestigious colleges had the worst scores. Many of the
schools that typically rank the highest in popularity scored among the
lowest in advancing civic knowledge. Generally, the ISI study found, the
higher the ranking by U.S. News and World Report in its annual survey of
institutions of higher education, the lower the rank in civic learning.
"Even when controlling for numerous variables that influence learning,
seniors at schools with reasonably strong core curricula — for example,
Rhodes, Calvin and Wheaton — had double the .gain in civic learning
compared with those seniors at schools without a coherent core curriculum —
for example, Brown, Cornell and Stanford."
4. Greater civic learning goes hand-in-hand with more active citizenship.
"Students who demonstrated greater learning of America's history and its
institutions were more engaged in citizenship activities such as
volunteer community service and political campaigns." The study found that
"86 percent of the students at the four highest-ranked colleges had
exercised their right to vote at least once. At Colorado State, ranked
second overall, 90 percent of seniors had voted at least once. ... Higher
civic learning and greater civic involvement are closely associated."
Here are three of the test questions, Even partially informed people who
believe American history is a better teacher than fascination and fixation
on the latest news about Britney Spears and O.J. Simpson ought to be able
to answer them correctly. The entire 60 multiple-choice questions can be
found on ISI's Web site, www.isi.org. . . .
[end excerpt]
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You are invited to check out the following:
The Rise of the Theocratic States of America
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocracy.htm
American Theocrats - Past and Present
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocrats.htm
The Constitutional Principle: Separation of Church and State
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
[and to join the discussion group for the above site and/or Separation of
Church and State in general, listed below]
HRSepCnS · Historical Reality SepChurch&State
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HRSepCnS/
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.. . . You can't understand a phrase such as "Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion" by syllogistic reasoning. Words
take their meaning from social as well as textual contexts, which is why "a
page of history is worth a volume of logic." New York Trust Co. v. Eisner,
256 U.S. 345, 349, 41 S.Ct. 506, 507, 65 L.Ed. 963 (1921) (Holmes, J.).
Sherman v. Community Consol. Dist. 21, 980 F.2d 437, 445 (7th Cir. 1992)
.. . .
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USAF LT. COL (Ret) Buffman (Glen P. Goffin) wrote
"You pilot always into an unknown future;
facts are your only clue. Get the facts!"
That philosophy 'snipit' helped to get me, and my crew, through a good
many combat missions and far too many scary, inflight, emergencies.
It has also played a significant role in helping me to expose the
plethora of radical Christian propaganda and lies that we find at
almost every media turn.
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THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE:
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
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