Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018 | 2 a.m.
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A recent survey on Americans’ grasp of civics pointed out the dangers of overemphasizing math and reading in classrooms at the expense of social studies, history and government.
The survey, conducted by the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, showed that only 1 in 3 Americans would pass the U.S. citizenship test. Among the results: Just 24 percent of respondents could correctly identify why the colonists fought the British, more than half didn’t know the number of justices on the Supreme Court and just 13 percent knew when the Constitution was ratified.
This wasn’t some isolated survey that happened to find a pocket of Americans who weren’t particularly interested in history, either. A similar survey last year by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania found that only about a third of respondents could name any rights protected under the First Amendment, more than half didn’t believe that undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. had any rights, and only about 25 percent could name all three branches of government. More than 75 percent couldn’t name a single one.
What’s worse, the Wilson survey identified a huge age gap in its outcomes, with those 65 and older scoring 74 percent but those 45 and younger getting only 19 percent of the answers right.
The clear takeaway is that we’ve changed the way we’re teaching civics, and not for the better.
For that, though, don’t blame schools or teachers. Blame right-wing opponents of public education, who have overemphasized reading and math to the detriment of other subjects as part of a specific and carefully organized effort to cut education funding.
By establishing prohibitive standards for math and education, and then tying school funding to standardized testing on those subjects, the right has forced schools to push other subjects to the side. It’s part of a long-term effort to create a population without the knowledge or means to think for themselves, and to reduce the sweep and ambition of education. The approach simply ensures we teach to a narrow set of requirements determined not by educators, but by politicians.
Amid this trend, it’s also become more common to start teaching civics to students later and later in their progression through school. In some places, civics education doesn’t begin in earnest until high school.
That’s not the case in Nevada, thank goodness, where civics instruction is required in lower grades. Nevada also requires completion of civics or citizenship curriculum to graduate from high school.
Still, it’s clear that there’s a lot of work to be done in giving young people the basic information they need to understand how our system of government works.
That’s never been more true than it is today. Amid an assault by President Donald Trump and other extremists on due process, free press and the liberties of Muslims and other groups living in the U.S., for instance, it’s alarming that so many Americans aren’t familiar with the First Amendment. As Trump attacks the Justice Department’s integrity and demeans judges, it’s disturbing that many people don’t know the various branches of government and how they fit into our system of checks and balances.
None of this is to suggest that reading and math aren’t important, because they’re absolutely vital. But so is civic education.
The good news here is that student interest in civics appears to be on the uptick in the aftermath of the Parkland, Fla., shooting, according to several published reports. Here’s hoping parents, grandparents and teachers support those students in getting more instruction in schools.
We need to turn this around. Our rights and our democracy depend on it. It’s time to push back on the decades of assaults on civics education, which were designed to rob us of information and make it easier for politicians to lie to us.
The language written into Nevada’s requirements for civic and citizenship education does a nice job of explaining why:
“Democracy requires active participation. The framers of the U.S. Constitution envisioned a government strong enough to rule the nation with power derived from the people. To ensure the continuation of our complex and dynamic system of government, our increasingly diverse society must rely on the knowledge and skills of our citizens and elected public officials. Students study our political system including the legislative, judicial and executive branches of governments at the local, state, tribal, and national levels, as well as the rights and responsibilities of a citizen.”
U.S. CIVICS QUIZ
Note: These questions were taken from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services civics practice tests. For more questions, visit https://my.uscis.gov/en/prep/test/civics/view
1. What is the supreme law of the land?
A. The Declaration of Independence
B. The Emancipation Proclamation
C. The Articles of Confederation
D. The Constitution
2. When must all men register for the Selective Service?
A. At any age
B. At age 16
C. Men do not have to register
D. Between 18 and 26
3. During the Cold War, what was the main concern of the United States?
A. The Great Depression
B. Slavery
C. Communism
D. Climate change
4. Who is the primary author of the Declaration of Independence?
A. George Washington
B. Abraham Lincoln
C. Thomas Jefferson
D. James Madison
5. How many amendments does the Constitution have?
A. 21
B. 27
C. 23
D. 10
6. Who is the chief justice of the United States now?
A. Barack Obama
B. John G. Roberts, Jr.
C. Joe Biden
D. Anthony Kennedy
7. What does the judicial branch do?
A. Reviews laws
B. Decides if a law goes against the Constitution
C. Resolves disputes
D. All of these answers
8. The Federalist Papers supported the passage of the U.S. Constitution. Name one of the writers.
A. George Washington
B. John Adams
C. Thomas Jefferson
D. James Madison
9. Who was president during World War I?
A. Woodrow Wilson
B. Franklin Roosevelt
C. Warren Harding
D. Theodore Roosevelt
10. What did the Declaration of Independence do?
A. Freed the slaves
B. Declared our independence from France
C. Gave women the right to vote
D. Declared our independence from Great Britain
11. Who does a U.S. senator represent?
A. All people of the state
B. Only the people in the state who voted for the senator
C. Only the people of the state who belong to the senator’s political party
D. The state legislatures
12. When was the Constitution written?
A. 1787
B. 1789
C. 1790
D. 1776
13. What territory did the United States buy from France in 1803?
A. Quebec
B. Hawaii
C. Alaska
D. Louisiana Territory
14. There are four amendments to the Constitution about who can vote. Describe one of them.
A. Citizens 18 and older can vote
B. Only citizens with a job can vote
C. Citizens by birth only can vote
D. Citizens 17 and older can vote
15. What does the president’s Cabinet do?
A. Commands the U.S. Armed Forces
B. Advises the president
C. Makes laws
D. All of these answers
16. Who was president during the Great Depression and World War II?
A. Herbert Hoover
B. Calvin Coolidge
C. Franklin Roosevelt
D. Harry Truman
17. What is one thing Benjamin Franklin is famous for?
A. U.S. diplomat
B. Youngest member of the Constitutional Convention
C. Third president of the United States
D. Inventor of the airplane
18. What are two Cabinet-level positions?
A. Secretary of health and human services and secretary of the Navy
B. Secretary of weather and secretary of energy
C. Secretary of the interior and secretary of history
D. Secretary of state and secretary of labor
19. How many U.S. senators are there?
A. 52
B. 100
C. 50
D. 435
20. We elect a U.S. representative for how many years?
A. Two
B. Four
C. Six
D. Eight
Answers: 1-D, 2-D, 3-C, 4-C, 5-B, 6-B, 7-D, 8-D, 9-A, 10-D, 11-A, 12-A, 13-D, 14-A, 15-B, 16-C, 17-A, 18-D, 19-B, 20-A
