Public Schools Declare Victory in the War on History
Reuters reports that less than a quarter of American school children demonstrate proficiency in American history. (Actually, the numbers are even worse than the lede suggests: only 20 percent of 4th graders, 17 percent of 8th graders and 12 percent of 12th graders performed at proficient levels on the history tests.)
This is no accident: teachers, administrators, textbook editors and those who design the public schools' curriculum have deliberately debased the teaching of history, with the goal of raising generations of Americans who lack the basic knowledge to understand American exceptionalism.
In fact, the numbers don't begin to tell the true story. American school children are tested upon a curriculum that elevates marginal figures such as Caesar Chavez, Harriet Taubman and Jesse Jackson, while knowing little or nothing about the Founding Fathers, other than that some of them owned slaves.
"He alone who owns the youth gains the future," Adolf Hitler proclaimed.
The liberal Fascists who've seized our education system heed his lesson well.
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Feb '11
Re: Public Schools Declare Victory in the War on History
Ignorant, yes, but they have the highest self-esteem in the western, or likely any other, world. What could be more important?
May '11
Re: Public Schools Declare Victory in the War on History
Numbers from Mark Bauerlein's book The Dumbest Generation.
- On the 2001 NAEP history exam 52 percent of high school seniors chose Germany, Japan, or Italy over the Soviet Union as an American ally in World War 2
- 37 percent didn't know the cause of the Cuban missile crisis
- Two thirds could not explain a photo of a building with a 'Colored Entrance' sign
- In one study only 29 percent of college seniors knew what 'Reconstruction' was
- Only one-third recognized the American general at Yorktown
- Less than one fifth identified James Madison as the "father of the Constitution"
- In another study only 41 percent of teenagers could name the three branches of the government
- In another study only 2 percent of college students could name the first freedom guaranteed by the First Amendment, and 25 percent could not name any
- In another study, 64 percent of young adults knew the latest American Idol, 10 percent knew the Speaker of the House, one third knew which party controlled their state legislature, and 40 percent knew which one controlled Congress
- Another study showed 72 percent of college-age students did not know the chief justice of the united states
Edited on June 15, 2011 at 4:38amMay '11
Re: Public Schools Declare Victory in the War on History
Sorry. Double post.
Edited on June 15, 2011 at 4:38amJun '10
Re: Public Schools Declare Victory in the War on History
Ugh. I hope the beginning of change is depression, because you have totally bummed me out.
Jun '10
Re: Public Schools Declare Victory in the War on History
History and social studies textbooks deserve a hugh part of the blame. I did a bit of exploring my children's books through the years and saw exactly what you describe with my own eyes. One book had a four-color, two page spread featuring Langston Hughes, but only two sentences on the Battle of Midway. That is not atypical. We suplemented our kids' history knowledge by making sure they read books to fill in the knowledge gap and were not shy about showing our anger over nonsense like this. these kids aren't stupid --- if you asked them who Langston Hughes was, they can tell you.
I also hate to burst anyone's bubble, but private schools use the same awful textbooks. Their teachers are graduates of the same awful teaching colleges as the public school teachers.
One history project my daughter did in 4th grade was to research & write about a famous woman for women's history month. She also had to decorate a three foot tall cutout of the woman. My daughter researched Margaret Thatcher. Hanging on the wall along side the Iron Lady were three Brittany Spears projects. That blame rests with the parents.
May '10
Re: Public Schools Declare Victory in the War on History
You can be pretty sure that any phrase that contains the words "social" or "society" has a hidden agenda. The creators of the phrase are signaling to others in the in-group what their motives are, but they do not want the voters to detect the odor of socialism.
Edited on June 15, 2011 at 6:01amMay '10
Re: Public Schools Declare Victory in the War on History
This is good news, actually. It's easier to learn new knowledge than to unlearn false knowledge. My history education from elementary school through college was full of lies and distortions.
Jun '10
Re: Public Schools Declare Victory in the War on History
I had been reading about the PC inflitraiton of children's history books for years, but saw the results clearly when our family was touring the Granary Burial Ground in Boston. My daughter was probably eight or nine, and as we walked among the tombstones, she suddenly exclaimed, "Crispus Atucks, mom!"
Now, I know he was a patriot, deserving of honor, but to my daughter the extensive coverage he received in her textbooks placed him well above John Hancock or Paul Revere (also burried at Granary) in historical importance.
Oct '10
Re: Public Schools Declare Victory in the War on History
Liberals own the failure of schools and the dumbing down of education in america. you can't point your fingers at conservatives on this one.
Jun '10
Re: Public Schools Declare Victory in the War on History
I've a brother who's a history teacher. He complains the title for a history teacher in most schools is "coach." I guess that would explain why more school children can tell you the names of championship sports figures than tell you who Ronald Reagan was.
Dec '10
Re: Public Schools Declare Victory in the War on History
While discussing some bit of history with my 11 year old I reminded her that I, too, had "social studies" classes when I was her age. Without even looking up from her writing she immediately replied, "True, but there wasn't much history then." I bought her a candy bar for such a well played stroke. It's up to us parents to give our kids what they need. We cannot turn them over to the state and then whine and complain that the state fails. As I've worked toward my degree I have discussed the topics I'm studying with my children during dinner, and they understand and retain much of what we discuss.
May '10
Re: Public Schools Declare Victory in the War on History
The same thought occurred to me: Better they've never heard of the New Deal than to have the belief that it brought us out of the Great Depression -- which was hammered into me at Ohio State.
Aug '10
Re: Public Schools Declare Victory in the War on History
The massive underpayment of teachers in to blame for the sorry state of education. We need to pay every teach like they are the CEO of JP Morgan. (Someone had to give the National Teachers Association response.)
Why do we have a Department of Un-Education? How can't the Rhinos support shuttering the doors of the Dept of Education? There is not one good reason the Federal government should be involved in education besides indoctrinating our children.
Dec '10
Re: Public Schools Declare Victory in the War on History
outstripp
You can be pretty sure that any phrase that contains the words "social" or "society" has a hidden agenda. The creators of the phrase are signaling to others in the in-group what their motives are, but they do not want the voters to detect the odor of socialism. · Jun 14 at 8:59pm
Edited on Jun 14 at 09:01 pm
OK, this is just an excuse for me to rant but...
I've noticed that "social" is invariably an adjective designed to produce irony:
Social security
Social promotion
Social disease
Social justice
Social interaction
Social science (my favorite)
Social worker
Social media
Social club
Social movement
Social network
Even soci-ology.
Sometimes "social" outright contradicts the noun that follows. Of course, this cannot hold universally because it can't be the case that both social liberal and social conservative are ironic phrases.
Jul '10
Re: Public Schools Declare Victory in the War on History
"Thought control, like birth control, is best undertaken as long as possible before the fact. Many grown-ups will obstinately persist, if only now and then, in composing small strings of sentences in their heads and achieving at least a momentary logic. This probably cannot be prevented, but we have learned how to minimize its consequences by arranging that such grown-ups will be unable to pursue that logic very far. If they were at home in the technology of writing, there's no telling how much social disorder they would cause by thinking things out at length.
Our schools have chosen to cut this danger off as close to the root as possible, thus taking measures to preclude not only the birth of thought but its conception. They give the pill to even the youngest children, but, just to be on the safe side, they give it to everybody else, too, especially all would-be teachers."
"Less Than Words Can Say"
Richard Mitchell
Dec '10
Re: Public Schools Declare Victory in the War on History
StickerShock: I had been reading about the PC inflitraiton of children's history books for years, but saw the results clearly when our family was touring the Granary Burial Ground in Boston. My daughter was probably eight or nine, and as we walked among the tombstones, she suddenly exclaimed, "Crispus Atucks, mom!"
Now, I know he was a patriot, deserving of honor, but to my daughter the extensive coverage he received in her textbooks placed him well above John Hancock or Paul Revere (also burried at Granary) in historical importance. · Jun 15 at 3:09am
Here's one for you: Do you know who the first slaveowner in Virginia was? It can be found, his name is known, in fact he won a court case in order to be a slaveowner. However, even with all the PC, his name isn't generally known. Can you guess why?
Dec '10
Re: Public Schools Declare Victory in the War on History
I like that you cited LF. Quite a history lesson for me in my advanced age. Also, the podcast "The History of Rome".
Jul '10
Re: Public Schools Declare Victory in the War on History
Scott Reusser
The same thought occurred to me: Better they've never heard of the New Deal than to have the belief that it brought us out of the Great Depression -- which was hammered into me at Ohio State. ·
I disagree. You're both right that being actively dis-informed is worse than being left ignorant.
But that's not the split. What we are actually seeing is an effort to keep students ignorant from the starting gate. Teacher-ed tomes argue that "critical thinking" is the key to developing skills X, Y, or Z. I routinely hear that facts are easily obtained from references, and that "mere memorization" is wasted effort.
There is a purpose for references, of course. The problem is that one needs reference points to use reference materials.
How useful is a dictionary to someone with a five word vocabulary?
It's unfortunately easy to manipulate know-nothings. This is particularly true for a movement that re-invents itself every week. I'd note that the lies and distortions you both rightly lament, were pushed on you after you already knew stuff.
Edited on June 16, 2011 at 4:42amOct '10
Re: Public Schools Declare Victory in the War on History
AmishDude
Here's one for you: Do you know who the first slaveowner in Virginia was? It can be found, his name is known, in fact he won a court case in order to be a slaveowner. However, even with all the PC, his name isn't generally known. Can you guess why? · Jun 15 at 7:25pm
Just looked it up. I had no idea. I feel historically illiterate. Where to start? But seriously, where should one start?
Dec '10
Re: Public Schools Declare Victory in the War on History
Of the subjects we teach our homeschooled children, the most important is their Bible studies, the second is History. We'll invest quite a bit of time planning the lessons, selecting the works of literature they'll read, we'll discuss the lessons learned, and we have found an excellent series of study guides to help pull it all together called Greenleaf Guides.
Another very useful resource we've relied upon are a series of books I remember reading some of called "Landmark Books". Not all are fantastic but if a child just read them, they'd have a far superior grasp of history than most!
In most cases, the older the book, the more accurate it will be.
Really, all the blame rests with parents. If they don't emphasize the importance of history (as opposed to talking about how much they hate it!) they cannot expect their kids to be much interested.