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College grads don’t know history

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Also by Stacy Nathan:

Scheub, Scott earn teaching honor (October 5, 2007)
College grads don't know history (September 24, 2007)
Funding group debates fate (September 14, 2007)

by Stacy Nathan

Monday, September 24, 2007

A survey of 50 colleges across the United States shows most college graduates know less about history than when they enrolled as freshmen.

In a study done by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, 14,000 students were randomly tested across campuses nationwide. Not a single school scored better than a D+, and the national average was an F.

Mike DeShaies, director of communications for ISI, said he was extremely disappointed in the results.

"We are calling for accountability," DeShaies said. "We are calling for key decision makers in higher education to take steps necessary to improve teaching of our country's history."

According to DeShaies, the point of the survey is not to criticize students, but to offer a diagnosis and a criticism of the schools.

Both freshmen and seniors from the same schools were tested to see the differentiation between their scores and to determine how much they had learned.

Eastern Connecticut State University ranked highest on the list. Freshmen there averaged a 31.34 percent while the seniors averaged 40.99 percent.

The University of Wisconsin ranked 15th in the survey, with freshmen scoring 51.57 percent on the test and seniors scoring 57.87 percent.

Ivy League schools Yale University and Cornell University came in last place with their seniors scoring 65.85 percent and 56.95 percent respectively, which was lower than their freshman scores.

However, these Ivy Leagues' scores were still higher — even though they may have lost percentage points from freshman to senior year — than any of the schools ranked in the top 10.

UW History Department Chair David McDonald said although public universities may be ranked higher on ISI's list, that doesn't mean they did better than their Ivy League counterparts.

Where the elite schools failed is that their students seemed to forget civic knowledge as they went through school, McDonald said.

McDonald also said he wasn't surprised by the results.

"People have other things that are preoccupying them. This is a society that puts a great emphasis on certain types of short-term success and material success," McDonald said. "They say this is a consequence of colleges not teaching American history well enough, and colleges need to be accountable. I disagree with their conclusions."

UW history professor Stephen Kantrowitz questioned how serious ISI really is about American history and who they get information and viewpoints from.

"Among the institute's speakers on 'history' is Dinesh D'Souza of the Hoover Institution, whose approach to American history has led him to hold America's cultural left responsible for the 9/11 attacks," Kantrowitz said.

And although McDonald believes some of the questions on ISI's test had a hidden agenda, both he and DeShaies agree it is important for students to know history.

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Anonymous (September 24, 2007 @ 12:50pm):

Here's my two cents: you may remember less as a college senior about the facts of history that were drilled into you for the first 12 years of your education, but I think you come out with a better understanding of the causes and consequences of historical events. Also, I know for me, I entered college with a generalist's knowledge of history, but I left with more of a specialist's knowledge and a deeper appreciation of learning about history.

Also, Professor McDonald rules.

Anonymous (September 24, 2007 @ 11:56pm):

"Eastern Connecticut State University ranked highest on the list. Freshmen there averaged a 31.34 percent while the seniors averaged 40.99 percent."

I dont think that's right

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