Apparently Americans (even gov officials) fail to understand how America works

[fjer]

US officials flunk test of American history, economics, civics

I'm sure many won't be surprised by these results, but it certainly sheds a new light on much that has happened recently (mainly the elections). Kind of makes you worry about our future doesn't it?

You can take the quiz here, btw. I got 87.88%, I got tripped up on a few economics questions (though one question I would argue had no truly correct answer).

[03_SHOOTER]

The results of their study merely serve to amplify the reasons why I requested that the Political Discussion Forum be added to Grunts. The current level of understanding what America is really all about, how our government is supposed to work (as opposed to how it does work), and even our own history is beyond abysmal.

On a side note, my score was 96.96% (I only missed one, and I believe it is due to the way the question was phrased).

[fjer]

Was it "33) If taxes equal government spending, then:" by any chance?

[03_SHOOTER]

Originally Posted by fjer

Was it "33) If taxes equal government spending, then:" by any chance?

I don't recall, as to me it wasn't a "critical" question.

[TruBlu]

Not surprising to say the least after many discussions that have popped up in this forum. I wasn't pleased about my score per say, but it was higher than the averages that your source was pulling (mine was a dismal 69.70%).

Here's an interesting knowledge gap table from the test:
http://www.americancivicliteracy.org...l_finding.html

But, I do have to raise this question: Who or what capacity were those elected leaders? I saw another table on there showing demographics and such for those regular citizens who took the test. But not so much for the elected leaders.

Also, is it unfair that a larger number of people were tested as non-elected citizens than elected leaders? Or is it perfectly fair because of the non-elected:elected ratios? Just some questions for thought that I know I would like to see people's opinions on.

[fjer]

From the official press release, the people who were elected officials were just people from the random group they polled who happened to be elected officials.

[SlightlyCatholic]

What I find disturbing is that 89.2% of the testees (no pun intended) failed the test.

Part of the reason for the inadequate education about our own nation is (in my opinion) high schools focusing on world history rather than this nation as its own subject matter. Also, this is going to sound bad, but I think a lot of teachers feel that their students are just too dumb to understand the founding documents of the United States. Whether that's true or not, I don't know, but I think it's true in at least some places in America.

[Billyd]

Tim, I don't think it is so much the students are too "dumb "to understand but the Teachers themselves don't fully understand what it is they are supposed to be teaching. For example, here in Florida the institutes of Public Educashun spend more time teaching the FCAT then actually teaching something useful such as critical thinking skills

[SlightlyCatholic]

I agree with you. What I was questioning the "truth" of was not the students' being smart enough to digest the founding documents but rather the teachers' faith in the students. American youth can do it, but they need to be given the chance.

[TruBlu]

Originally Posted by Seminarian_Tim

Part of the reason for the inadequate education about our own nation is (in my opinion) high schools focusing on world history rather than this nation as its own subject matter.

Well, as a current high school student (and yes, taking into account that you have been there done that), I can refute that with my own transcript. I have taken one World History class (req.) and one US History class (req.). Next year I will be taking US Government and Economics (req.).

Of course that's not always best. We should also be worldly in our knowledge, as it may help us better understand and improve on our own. For this I have signed up for other courses, including a European History and a War and Conflict class.

I don't think that it's a matter of course load and selection for courses though to be honest. I believe it is a failure upon the part of the students for not taking an interest and understanding what they claim. Should there be a class entirely devoted to the US Constitution and amendments required for each high school student? Maybe, but would that hold the interest of the students involved, and in the end teach them very much? No, and I say that because I am a student and see that attitude everyday when I go to school.

From what I know and have experienced, the youth, excluding a small handful, does not care about how it works, or why it's a certain way. No, to most youth, including those that can vote, it's all about image and basic ideas that sound good to them. That's my two cents.