Posted on 01/17/2015 10:06:50 AM PST by Kaslin
It has been reported that David Bradley, a Democratic State Senator from Arizona, commented on his vote against Arizona's new law requiring high school students to pass a U.S. citizenship test on civics before graduation:
"My point now is tests don't make citizens, citizens are tested by their actions."
We should be hopeful that State Senator Bradley is not asked to vote on written portion of drivers' license tests or just about anything else where a test is required to get a license.
Ignorance may be bliss for individuals on individual issues. Ignorance of civics by what may be a majority of young voters is a disaster. Bless Governor Doug Ducey and the Arizona legislature in taking what should not be considered a remotely bold step by insisting that every high school student pass a basic civics test before graduating from high school. Noting that a high school degree is not required to vote, there should be no constitutional issues with such a requirement, only a belief that anyone graduating from a high school in the United States should have a basic knowledge of our governmental structure.
In the same AP piece (reprinted on Townhall.com) where Mr. Bradley's quote appeared, Joe Thomas, a high school government teacher said that he was concerned that having students take a 100-question test would take up an entire class period and will not be an effective way of getting students engaged in civics. He said the test is will require rote memorization rather than something that promotes critical thinking. "The interest is promoting civics and we want to see students engaged," Thomas said. "I don't know if a test engages students."
With all due respect to Mr. Thomas, a test which must be passed to graduate from high school will surely engage his students. It is the ultimate carrot and stick. And the goal is to teach civics, not promote civics. This is a distinction with a difference. It will be his job, in his classroom, to insure that his students are taught civics in a manner that keeps them interested. His job is to engage his students in something important, civics. His job is to take this material, teach it to his students and then promote critical thinking about the facts they have learned. It is not that difficult to craft great classes around the issue of what knowledge a citizen should have of his or her own nation.
A major concern among teachers at all levels is that if they have standard tests, they will need to teach to the tests. This is a valid concern until one recognizes that virtually every teacher tests based on what they teach in their classroom. So, the issue is not the standardized test, the issue is that others are determining the learning objectives. It is not an unreasonable concern because all teachers want to control their own classroom. That being said, a basic civics test is just that, a basic civics test. Would it bother me that a student literally learned only the answers to a one hundred question exam on civics? No, it would not. I am hoping that Arizona's teachers will pour their hearts into the subject matter, but if not, the students will still know a bit more about their country than before the exam and that cannot be a bad thing.
Great job Arizona!
Dang, missed one. Been a while since the voting age was a concern...
Suspect there will be a high failure rate, which is a shame.
If I’m not mistaken, a similar course was required when I was in high school in Arizona. At least in my high school in Superior, in the senior year, you had to take one semester of Economics followed by one semester of Civics.
They should add a pro-freedom essay related to civics
Critical thinking??? I didn't know that was even taught anymore in public schools. Oh wait! I forgot....I guess putting a condom on a banana promotes critical thinking rather than rote memorization. Sorry, I lost my head for a moment.
Dave Bradley is a beaming simpleton like the idiots who lost California to Mexico.
And that’s why the Civics requirement was passed: to counter the Mexican Reconquista trash being pushed in Arizona classrooms now illegally - they were outlawed by the Legislature.
Unlike in California where they would be hailed as Truth.
But Arizona ain’t California...yet. The Americans are still there fighting and this is just one more tool in that fight.
Bradley is one of those Good Times guys who enjoys the freedom and prosperity without having any clue what created it: it ain’t Mexican corruption and backwardness, Dave.
And this IS the United States, not Sonora Norte, and we Aren’t in Mexico, no matter what Raul Grijalva thinks.
Actions like these young skulls of mush taking the Bill of Rights to some government public servant and asking him what each Amendment to the Constitution means? It is not the government's job to tell us what the Bill of Rights means. IT'S OUR JOB TO TELL THE GOVERNMENT WHAT THE BILL OF RIGHTS MEANS.
I love my new governor!! This is the first of many great things he hopes to accomplish in our state.
Dats Wascist!
What’s their problem? My high school required a year of civics (or the equivalent summer class) in order to graduate.
Same in NC way back, ‘69 or ‘70. It wasn’t curriculum, but my teacher gave a rats. The whiners in class were shown the Naturalization test, which was harder than ours.
Getting old and crotchety, I go for guns, ammo, and canned foods, none of the latter to be thrown at anyone.
In 1962, and the funny part is that my high school was 75% Mexican ancestry. We almost all went into the Army shortly after graduation, then to work in the mine.
Thank you, I remember a similar requirement in Tucson way back when ( 1972 ).
The AZ Republicans are dumb enough; imagine the Democrats!
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