WASHINGTON – Do you know where the first shots of the Revolutionary War were fired? Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann sure didn’t.
Earlier this year, Rep. Bachmann had an “oops” moment when she confused Concord, N.H., for Concord, Mass., while talking to a group of voters in the Granite State. The latest Nation’s Report Card shows that Bachmann isn’t alone – the majority of American students lack a basic understanding of U.S. history and civics.
Also known as the National Assessment of Education Progress, the test results show that three-quarters of high school seniors could not name a power granted to Congress by the Constitution. In addition, fewer than half of eighth graders could explain the purpose of the Bill of Rights.
The report, administered every few years by the Department of Education, examines civics knowledge at the fourth, eighth and 12th grade levels. In 2010, fourth grade scores went up slightly, eighth grade scores were stagnant and 12th grade scores dropped.
“Today’s NAEP results confirm that we have a crisis on our hands when it comes to civics education,” Sandra Day O’Connor, a former Supreme Court justice, told The New York Times earlier this year. O’Connor founded icivics.org, a web-based education project that aims to teach kids civics and inspire them to participate in the democratic system.
According to the Center for Civic Education’s website, “Until the 1960s, three courses in civics and government were common in American high schools, and two of them (‘civics’ and ‘problems of democracy’) explored the role of citizens and encouraged students to discuss current issues. Today those courses are very rare.”
Many teachers and education experts point to President George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind legislation as a reason for the de-emphasis of civics in schools.
However, the root of the problem could be traced back to 1957 with the launch of Sputnik, the first artificial satellite. The Russian achievement ignited a wave of panic in the U.S., prompting the creation of NASA and other agencies to keep up with scientific advancements overseas.
President Dwight Eisenhower further responded by pushing for more math and science courses in public schools so that America wouldn’t fall behind in the global space race. The emphasis on these topics has remained consistent over the years, as teachers adhere to NCLB requirements and prepare students for standardized testing.
The Obama Administration reaffirmed this focus in 2009 when it launched the “Educate to Innovate” campaign, a nationwide effort to motivate students to excel in math and science.
“Reaffirming and strengthening America’s role as the world’s engine of scientific discovery and technological innovation is essential to meeting the challenges of this century,” said President Obama. “That’s why I am committed to making the improvement of STEM education over the next decade a national priority.”
Yet, it could be argued that having a solid understanding of American civics is just as important.
“Your duty as a citizen is to be an informed voter,” said Sarah Turpin, an award-winning civics teacher in South Carolina. “By not understanding the strengths or weaknesses of our government, people will go about trying to make changes in ways that won’t work.”
A 2006 study by the Center for Education Policy found that 71 percent of surveyed school districts reported having reduced instructional time in at least one other subject to make more time for reading and math. Turpin cited NCLB requirements as a main reason why teachers may be neglecting civics in their classrooms.
“It’s pushed to the wayside because it’s not tested,” she said.
Dan Fortune, a U.S. history high school teacher in North Carolina, echoed Turpin’s sentiment.
“There’s so much emphasis on science, math and technology,” Fortune said. “And this need for our students to compete with students in other nations means our students aren’t learning how to be productive citizens.”
Fortune noted that the North Carolina State Board of Education requires students to take only one civics course during their senior year of high school. This one-semester class is something Charles Quigley, executive director of the Center for Civic Education, said is “too little, too late.”
Quigley said civics education is “one of the major roles of our schools and it’s absurd that there’s not more attention to it.”
A glimmer of hope for civics in the reauthorization of NCLB was squashed when no reference to the topic could be found in either of the Senate or House bills. Aaron Albright, Democratic spokesman for the House Education and the Workforce Committee, confirmed that no provision of the overhauled NCLB addresses civics education.
However, a new House bill titled, “Strengthen and Unite Communities with Civics Education and English Development Act of 2011,” calls for money for civics education geared toward immigrant students. The bill, authored by Rep. Michael Honda, D-Calif., sets aside $200 million for fiscal year 2012 for schools to incorporate English literacy, U.S. history and civics education programs.
This legislation is a small step, but may not be enough to make civics education a priority in schools. At some point, Turpin said, it’s up to the teachers to be proactive.
“Teachers are already feeling swamped,” Turpin said. “But we need to tell teachers that they don’t need more time, they just need to make some tweaks to incorporate civics in every subject area. When I use coins to teach math, I make sure to tell kids that a nickel is five cents, but also point out that Thomas Jefferson is on it.”
But what happens when standardized test preparation takes priority in the classroom?
“It would be beneficial if civics was implemented in the SAT,” Fortune suggested. “At least test the basics of the Bill of Rights, branches of government and judicial procedures. Those are things that students should know because after high school, they may never learn it again.”
The SAT and ACT college entrance exams currently do not test civics. Instead, the SAT focuses on core subjects such as math, reading and writing and the ACT tests those topics, plus science.
Scott Gomer, media relations director for the ACT, said test questions are formulated based on cumulative interviews with high school teachers and college professors about what they think the average college freshman needs to know.
“We don’t have any plans right now to add anything for civics,” Gomer said. “It’s not that the topic isn’t important, but we consider skills from history or civics class to be mostly reading skills…which is why we have a reading section for our test.”
So, if teachers focus curriculum on what’s being tested, and test makers decide content based on what teachers say they’re emphasizing, how can civics education break the cycle of the academic chicken and the egg?
“I think there’s increasing recognition of the need for civic education,” Quigley said. “It’s really outside pressure on Congress and state legislatures that’s needed to give civic education its place in the sun.”