Civic Literacy Quiz: Are the Nations Colleges Failing America?

[roo_ster]

From the results, I would say, "Yes."

MAJOR FINDINGS

    * College Seniors Failed a Basic Test on America's History and Institutions.
    * Colleges Stall Student Learning about America.
    * America's Most Prestigious Universities Performed the Worst.
    * Inadequate College Curriculum Contributes to Failure.
    * Greater Learning about America Goes Hand-in-Hand with More Active Citizenship.

According to ISIs report, a 5-year-old kindergartener would have scored about 20 percent on the
American civic literacy exam simply by guessing. The average college freshman scored 50.4 percent. That means one can estimate that the average students score increased 30.4 pointsor 2.3 points per yearin the 13 years from kindergarten through 12th grade. After three years of college, however, the average senior scored 54.2 percent, a gain of only 3.8 points, or about 1.3
points per year. The college annual rate of gain was only about half the pre-college annual rate gain.

College seniors whose families engaged in frequent conversations about current events and history, whose parents were married and living together, and who came from homes where English was the primary language all tended to learn more than students who lacked these advantages. For example, students from families that frequently discussed current events and
history gained 2.3 percentage points more on average than students from families that did not.

Website:
http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/index.html

Press Release/Report:
http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/content/failing_america_9-18-07.pdf

Overall Results in Data Tables:
http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/report/tables.html

Quiz Addy:
http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx

My Quiz Results:

You answered 58 out of 60 correctly  96.67 %
Average score for this quiz during September: 73.5%
Average score since September 18, 2007: 73.5%

I missed #36 and #60.

[Paddy]

Easy solution, lower the standards.   

[K Frame]

88+%.

I missed 7, 4 of them because I wasn't reading closely enough, and two others because I had NO frigging clue.

[cosine]

83.33%

I missed most of the political philosophy/theory questions, because, as the poster said, I have no friggin' clue. I haven't done much reading yet in those subject areas, although I definitely do intend to do so eventually.

[The Viking]

73.33 %
Not entirely unexpected. I've known for years that I'm lacking in my knowledge of a variety of subjects.

[Nick1911]

73.33%

Missed 2 because I didn't read the question correctly.  As others stated, I missed the rest because I have no clue.

[Chris]

73%  The economics questions killed me.  I guess that's why I went to law school.

[The Rabbi]

96.67%.  A couple I guessed right.  One I'm not convinced I was wrong (Biggest expenditure of the Fed Gov over 40 years).  The other (just war) I didnt have a clue.

[Euclidean]

You answered 55 out of 60 correctly  91.67 %
Average score for this quiz during September: 74.4%
Average score since September 18, 2007: 74.4%

You can take the quiz as often as you like, however, your score will only count once toward the monthly average.

Yeah, my university education really failed me, apparently.

Take articles like this with a grain of salt.  While there are plenty of reasons to criticize the educational system, testing, especially any sort of standardized testing, can be employed in strategic ways by politically motivated people to make any educational institution look bad.

Performance on this quiz is not about the quality of the school, it's all about these factors right here:

College seniors whose families engaged in frequent conversations about current events and history, whose parents were married and living together, and who came from homes where English was the primary language all tended to learn more than students who lacked these advantages.

[wooderson]

Insert 'business administration majors' joke here.

[Euclidean]

Insert 'business administration majors' joke here.

I'm currently working on my MBA, and probably could have done better than 91.6% if I'd taken my time.

[roo_ster]

There may well be a political motivation, but the questions seemed both fair & on-topic.  Nothing from left or right field.

The snippets I quoted were only some of quite a few observations made in the analysis/PR release.

[SteveS]

I suppose colleges could require history and government.  Otherwise, I don't see a solution.  Let's face it, these aren't subjects that most people are interested in. 

[The Rabbi]

I suppose colleges could require history and government.  Otherwise, I don't see a solution.  Let's face it, these aren't subjects that most people are interested in. 

Actually high schools could.  In fact, they do.  I suspect it's the way its taught, among other things.

[Scout26]

You answered 59 out of 60 correctly  98.33 %
Average score for this quiz during September: 75.0%
Average score since September 18, 2007: 75.0%

Question #58 - B. An increase in the volume of commercial bank loans.

I guess being the nerdy guy who read Locke, Smith, Hume, Hayek. etc. for "fun" in High School and College finally paid off !!!!


BOOYAH !!!!!!

[Werewolf]

You answered 54 out of 60 correctly  90.00 %
Average score for this quiz during September: 75.0%
Average score since September 18, 2007: 75.0%

Not sure I agree with their answer about the largest government expenditure over the past 20 years - I think it's the interest on the National Debt. Social Security may be the largest out but if you net the out against the in - I just don't see how it can be more than the interest payment on a national debt which is up to around 5 or 6 trillion now. Last time I looked the feds were paying around 500B a year interest - 20 years ago it was around 300B (higher interest rates then). The interest payments are probably higher now.

the others I missed I just plain didn't know.

[Racehorse]

Insert 'business administration majors' joke here.

I'm currently working on my MBA, and probably could have done better than 91.6% if I'd taken my time.

I have an MBA and a business undergrad, and I got 90%. Studies like this are kind of a no-brainer to me. The quiz is pretty difficult, and most people don't like to think. It's not that the schools are failing as much as the students don't care about learning and are lazy. I worked hard during school and did everything I could to actually learn the material. I learned the material and it has helped me in my career. Other students got the same degree, but were lazy and coasted. They are often clueless about solving problems and are very ignorant. Yet, we went to the same school.

It's more about the students than the schools, in my opinion.

[Silver Bullet]

You answered 47 out of 60 correctly  78.33 %

 
 
I felt very out of my element on this test.  In fact, I felt like I was guessing on half the questions.
 
Actually, the numbers support that.  If I got 30 correct because I knew the answer, and if on the other 30 I was able to eliminate 3 of the 5 choices, that means I was guessing between 2 of the 5 choices on the other 30 questions, giving me a 50-50 chance, or, on average, 15 of the 30.
 
30 + 15 = 45, which is close to my result.
 
Too bad it wasnt a math or statistics test. I would have done much better !   
 
Or a Led Zep test.  Or Firefly !  Or why .357 SIG is superior to .40 S&W.  Or a test on mid- and late-60s sports and muscle cars.   Or the location of the best margaritas in Phoenix. 
 
I know lots of answers, theyre asking the wrong questions !   

[GigaBuist]

national debt which is up to around 5 or 6 trillion now.

We're actually approaching 9 trillion right now.

[Werewolf]

national debt which is up to around 5 or 6 trillion now.

We're actually approaching 9 trillion right now.

Whoaaaa momma! Now that's just scary!

[The Rabbi]

national debt which is up to around 5 or 6 trillion now.

We're actually approaching 9 trillion right now.

Whoaaaa momma! Now that's just scary!

Why should that be scary?

[slzy]

88 something and i could quibble on 2 of them.

i have started reading on the french and indian war,7 years war to the rest of the world.

it is the first subject in years to energize the way it has. it put Washington,Franklin,the coming of the United States,and the Indians too in a new perspective.

this war presages the Revolution ,as the Mexican War leads to the Civil War.

i may even try to wade through some James Fennimore Cooper.

i can say all who take this journey will be better for it.


Rangers lead the way.

[BakerMikeRomeo]

Wham!

93.33%!

I missed the Andrew Johnson one, the Public Good one, the Treasury Buying Bonds one, and another one I can't remember.

~BakerMike

[Art Eatman]

90%, which sez my memory for way-back-when stuff ain't doin' too bad.

Art