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New Data: Students Ready to Learn, but Colleges Fail to Require Essential Classes
While general knowledge remains poor, ACTA’s arts and sciences survey shows that students have a strong appetite for learning.
Last week, lawmakers in Oregon proposed a bill that would require all public-school students in the state to pass the civics portion of the U.S. naturalization test before receiving their high-school diploma. Under Senate Bill 1038, Oregon students would have to correctly answer 60 of the 100 civics questions to pass. A student could take the test as many times as necessary to reach that threshold and could begin taking the test even before high school. Just last month, Alabama, Arkansas, and Kentucky each enacted similar laws, joining at least 15 other states with such civics requirements for high-school graduation, according to the Joe Foss Institute’s Civics Education Initiative. Though perhaps unintentional, the bill’s submission last week coincided with the 274th anniversary of Thomas Jefferson’s birth. A champion of the diffusion of knowledge, Jefferson is often — and incorrectly — credited as once saying, “An enlightened citizenry is indispensable for the proper functioning of a republic.” But, despite its spurious attribution, this popular axiom does reflect the significance Jefferson placed on education, particularly public education, and its role in civil society. Writing to fellow Virginian and lifelong friend James Madison in 1787, Jefferson stated: “Above all things I hope the education of the common people will be attended to, convinced that on their good sense we may rely with the most security for the preservation of a due degree of liberty.”
While general knowledge remains poor, ACTA’s arts and sciences survey shows that students have a strong appetite for learning.
John and Abigail Adams envisioned an America with a school in every neighborhood and a well-informed citizenry that was adept in languages, literature, and music; science, history, and religion. Their vision was practical until the ages recast it, little by little. Then, sometime between Joseph McCarthy and Joan Baez, the status quo of the educational […]
In this episode, ACTA Vice President of Policy Bradley Jackson talks with Jane Calvert, director of the John Dickinson Writings Project and a member of ACTA’s National Commission on American History and Civic Education.
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