TexasCHLforum.com

There is a crisis in American civic education. Survey after survey shows that
recent college graduates are alarmingly ignorant of America’s history and
heritage. They cannot identify the term lengths of members of Congress,
the substance of the First Amendment, or the origin of the separation of powers.
They do not know the Father of the Constitution, and nearly 10% say that Judith
Sheindlin—“Judge Judy”—is on the Supreme Court.

How do Americans amend the Constitution? More than half of college
graduates didn’t know. Almost 60% of college graduates failed to identify
correctly a requirement for ratifying a constitutional amendment.

We live in a dangerous world—but almost 40% of college graduates didn’t
know that Congress has the power to declare war.

College graduates were even confused about the term lengths of members of
Congress. Almost half could not recognize that senators are elected to six-
year terms and representatives are elected to two-year terms.

Less than half of college graduates knew that presidential impeachments are
tried before the U.S. Senate.

Many of the figures may actually understate how poorly our colleges are doing because
older respondents performed significantly better than younger ones. For example,
98.2% of college graduates over the age of 65 knew that the president cannot
establish taxes—but only 73.8% of college graduates aged 25–34 answered correctly.
Most college graduates over age 65 knew how to amend the Constitution—76.7%
answered correctly. But among college graduates aged 25–34, less than a third
chose the right answer, and over half answered that the president must ratify an
amendment, failing to comprehend how the division of powers among coequal
branches protects citizens’ rights.

randy634 wrote:So true! I work on a college campus, I know.....

koine2002 wrote:As one who, until recently, was full time in higher education (I'm still an adjunct) it's a complex problem. However, it's been a steady decline since the 1970s with the ubiquity of Tite IV money and the associated strings attached that are enforced by the recognized accrediting councils. Education is no longer a matter of creating educated citizens who happen to also be employable. It's turned into an employee factory. The first thing to go is fields not deemed <em>directly</em> necessary to employability in the anointed fields (STEM). The humanities, the cradle of western civilization in which the principles that informed our republic's founding, go by the wayside.

The accrediting councils, which are private, are at the mercy of the USDE. Colleges are at the mercy of both, because while accreditation (except in a few states) is not mandatory, Title IV funds don't come unless a school is accredited. No school can survive in the current milieu without taking Title IV money. Some of the longest holdouts have actually caved in.

The school I'm at has 25 metrics that we are accountable to in our accreditation. 6 are directly related to education. About 10 are indirectly related. The remainder are ancillary to actual education. Student retention and long term employability are two major areas that hurt many schools when it's time for reaffirmation. One college in our area (not mine), to meet those demands, laid off a bunch of full time faculty, citing a budget shortfall then turned around and hired as many assistant deans as faculty they laid off. It was all about those areas ancillary to the actual process of education . Schools must now focus on making students happy and sacrificing education on the alter of utility.

This is not just in higher ed, though. I sub a lot. Social studies (in middle school), the histories, government, and economics are a joke. They're most often taught by folks whose primary job is something else (coaching, for instance). It's also only the maths and sciences where great lengths are take to ensure students don't cheat on their ACPs.

chandler583 wrote:Well, I for one did graduate with a STEM degree in Engineering from Texas A&M, I would like to think that a majority of the students that attend that university are above average in being aware of what's going on in the country around them, but I'm not so sure anymore.

I try to pay attention to world events and politicians to hold them accountable, I could careless what jersey shore or the Kardashians are doing. But, then again, I don't think Fireball whiskey is the best alcohol around either, so I may just be an exception to the rule.

http://www.bachelor-of-education.org/college-major-iq/