hypocritexposer
Well-known member
This can't only be blamed on the students, most of the blame needs to be placed on the teachers, IMO.
Most AZ high school students would fail US citizenship test
By Rhonda Bodfield
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
You know those groan-inducing spots on late-night television when the typical person-on-the-street can't identify the vice president?
That's akin to what happened to the state's education system Tuesday, with the issuance of a new report that found only 3.5 percent of traditional public high school students would be able to pass a U.S. citizenship test— bombing out on questions such as who was America's first president, who wrote the Declaration of Independence and what do we call the first 10 amendments to the Constitution.
There's little room to be smug from the charter school or private school arenas. While they both did better, they still did poorly, with only 7 percent and 14 percent of those students passing the test, respectively, according to a survey by the Goldwater Institute, a conservative think tank.
"I was dismayed and shocked at just how poorly the kids did," said Matthew Ladner, vice president of research. "When 74 percent can't tell you that George Washington was the first president of the U.S., that's really disturbing."
The question the students did best on was really more of a geography question: 58 percent were able to name the Atlantic Ocean as the body of water on the East Coast.
The study, conducted in November 2008, asked 1,350 public high school students 10 questions pulled at random from a list of 100 on the U.S. citizenship test. A similar number of private school students were polled in a separate sample in the same period.
The standard on the citizenship test is that the applicant must be able to answer at least six of 10 questions correctly on the test, which is not multiple choice.
The results come as teachers focus less on the memorization of discrete facts, given that information is so readily available at the stroke of a key, and more on the application of knowledge.
TEST YOURSELF
1. What is the supreme law of the land?
Answer: The Constitution. correct 29.5 percent
2. What do we call the first 10 amendments to the Constitution?
Answer: The Bill of Rights. correct 25 percent
3. What are the two parts of the U.S. Congress?
Answer: The Senate and the House. correct 23 percent
4. How many justices are on the Supreme Court?
Answer: Nine. correct 9.4 percent
5. Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?
Answer: Thomas Jefferson. correct 25.3 percent
6. What ocean is on the East Coast of the United States?
Answer: Atlantic. correct 58.8 percent
7. What are the two major political parties in the United States?
Answer: Democratic and Republican. correct 49.6 percent
8. We elect a U.S. senator for how many years?
Answer: Six. correct 14.5 percent
9. Who was the first president?
Answer: Washington. correct 26.5 percent
10. Who is in charge of the executive branch?
Answer: The president. correct 26 percent