{"id":2184,"date":"2008-02-28T06:31:14","date_gmt":"2008-02-28T11:31:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/?p=2184"},"modified":"2008-02-28T08:45:30","modified_gmt":"2008-02-28T13:45:30","slug":"history-is-so-hard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/?p=2184","title":{"rendered":"History Is So Hard"},"content":{"rendered":"

I remember when I first became aware of the decay of the education system, during Reagan’s first term.\u00a0 “A Nation At Risk<\/em>” was the seminal report detailing the problems the system faced.<\/p>\n

The thing that worried me at the time was the overwhelming <\/em>push to drive kids into science and math.\u00a0 Although I was still pretty much a proponent of the system back then, I figured that the only way to deal with this nation’s “shortage of scientists and engineers” was not to try to convince junior high kids that math was cool – but to teach kids to think<\/em>, and pave the way for the ones that are <\/em>inclined toward math and science to get into the field.\u00a0 But with all due respect to my engineer and scientist friends, math and computer science and engineering majors can be among the most provincial, narrowly-focused people around. Which is fine to an extent; I don’t care if my neurosurgeon has read James Joyce, and I’ll forgive some of our engineers’ ignorance on Locke vs. Rousseau if they at least get the next batch of gusset plates right.<\/p>\n

But I worried about the tendency to push science and engineering as a panacea <\/em>for all that ailed education.<\/p>\n

And, whaddya know, I was right<\/a>!<\/p>\n

Big Brother. McCarthyism. The patience of Job.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

Don’t count on your typical teenager to nod knowingly the next time you drop a reference to any of these. A study out today finds that about half of 17-year-olds can’t identify the books or historical events associated with them.<\/font><\/p>\n

Twenty-five years after the federal report A Nation at Risk<\/em> challenged U.S. public schools to raise the quality of education, the study finds high schoolers still lack important historical and cultural underpinnings of “a complete education.” And, its authors fear, the nation’s current focus on improving basic reading and math skills in elementary school might only make matters worse, giving short shrift to the humanities – even if children can read and do math.<\/font><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Wanna know something scary?\u00a0 I actually expected these numbers below to be worse<\/em> than they turned out:<\/p>\n

Among 1,200 students surveyed:<\/font>\u202243% knew the Civil War was fought between 1850 and 1900.<\/font><\/p>\n

\u202252% could identify the theme of 1984.<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n

\u202251% knew that the controversy surrounding Sen. Joseph McCarthy focused on communism.<\/font><\/p>\n

In all, students earned a C in history and an F in literature, though the survey suggests students do well on topics schools cover. For instance, 88% knew the bombing of Pearl Harbor led the USA into World War II, and 97% could identify Martin Luther King Jr. as author of the “I Have a Dream” speech.<\/font><\/p>\n

Fewer (77%) knew Uncle Tom’s Cabin<\/em> helped end slavery a century earlier.<\/font><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I’ve commented on this before, here and on the NARN show.\u00a0 My kids complained that, while in the public system in Saint Paul, they basically learned about…:<\/p>\n