Posted on 12/14/2002 5:30:32 PM PST by Remedy
On September 17, President Bush delivered a speech on Teaching American History and Civic Education in which he cited recent reports showing "large and disturbing gaps" in American students' knowledge of history. Links to these surveys are provided by NEH on a web page entitled Evidence of American Amnesia, part of the official web site for the White House's "We the People" initiative to be administered by NEH.
Following are some of the surveys cited on the NEH site:
(September, 2002), a report released by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni which "found that none of the nation's top 50 colleges and universities require students to study American history and only 10% require students to study history at all". The report was authored by Ann Neal and Jerry Martin. Restoring America's Legacy .
In 2000, Neal and Martin authored the ACTA report, "Losing America's Memory: Historical Illiteracy in the 21st Century" which provided part of the impetus for Congress' creation of the $150 million Teaching American History program within the Department of Education.
American's Knowledge of the U.S. Constitution (May, 2002), a nationwide survey commissioned by Columbia Law School which "revealed that an alarming number of voting age Americans have serious misconceptions about the Constitution and Bill of Rights".
2001 U.S. History National Assessment of Education Progress a report compiled by the U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, which found that 57% of 12th Graders scored "below basic" levels, and that more students performed "below basic" on the history test than any other NAEP subject, including math and science.
President Introduces History & Civic Education Initiatives full text @ link
Remarks of the President on Teaching American History and Civic Education Initiative
The Rose Garden
8:42 A.M. EDT
Our Founders believed the study of history and citizenship should be at the core of every American's education. Yet today, our children have large and disturbing gaps in their knowledge of history. Recent studies tell us that nearly one in five high school seniors think that Germany was an ally of the United States in World War II. Twenty-eight percent of eighth graders do not know the reason why the Civil War was fought. One-third of fourth graders do not know what it means to "pledge allegiance to the flag." Graduating seniors at some of our leading colleges and universities cannot correctly identify words from the Gettysburg Address, or do not know that James Madison is the father of the Constitution.
This is more than academic failure. Ignorance of American history and civics weakens our sense of citizenship. To be an American is not just a matter of blood or birth; we are bound by ideals, and our children must know those ideals.
The primary responsibility for teaching history and civics rests with our elementary and secondary schools, and they've got to do their job. The federal government can help, and today I'm announcing three new initiatives spearheaded by the USA Freedom Corps and designed to support the teaching of American history and civic education.
The first initiative is called We the People -- it will be administered by the National Endowment for the Humanities -- which will encourage the teaching of American history and civic education. The program will provide grants to develop good curricula; hold training seminars for schoolteachers and university faculty; sponsor a lecture series in which acclaimed scholars -- like David McCullough -- will tell the story of great figures from American history; and enlist high school students in a nation essay contest about the principles and ideals of America. We will use technology to share these important lessons with schools and communities throughout America.
The federal government conserves and protects some of our greatest national treasures, and we need to make them more readily available to Americans in their schools and local communities. Our second initiative is called Our Documents, an innovative project that will be run by the National Archives and the National History Day. This project will use the Internet to bring one hundred of America's most important documents from the National Archives to classrooms and communities across the country, provide lesson plans, and to foster competitions and discussions about these defining moments in our history.
Students and their teachers will see documents online in their original form -- well-known documents such as our Constitution or the Emancipation Proclamation or the Civil Rights Act of 1964. They will also see other important but less widely available documents, such as the Lee Resolution, which first proposed independence for American colonies, and Jefferson's Secret Message to Congress regarding the exploration of the West.
Third, early next year we will convene a White House forum on American history, civics, and service. We will discuss new policies to improve the teaching of history and civics in elementary and secondary schools, and in our colleges and universities. We will hear from educators and scholars about ways to better monitor students' understanding of American history and civics, and how to make more of our great national treasures, how to make them more accessible and more relevant to the lives of our students.
American children are not born knowing what they should cherish -- are not born knowing why they should cherish American values. A love of democratic principles must be taught.
A poet once said, "What we have loved, others will love, and we will teach them how." We love our country, and we must teach our children to do the same. And when we do, they will carry on our heritage of freedom into the future.
(Excerpt) Read more at nhalliance.org ...
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