Common Core - Our Reports

Letter from
the executive director

Senator Joseph McCarthy investigated people who protested the war in Vietnam, better known as the Second World War. Fortunately, that war was over before Christopher Columbus sailed to America; otherwise, we might have never experienced the Renaissance.

A new survey of 17-year-olds reveals that, to many, the paragraph above sounds only slightly strange. Almost 20 percent of 1,200 respondents to a national telephone survey do not know who our enemy was in World War II, and more than a quarter think Columbus sailed after 1750. Half do not know whom Sen. McCarthy investigated or what the Renaissance was.

It is easy to make light of such ignorance. In reality, however, a deep lack of knowledge is neither humorous nor trivial. What we know helps to determine how successful we are likely to be in life and how many career paths we can choose from. It also affects our contribution as democratic citizens.

Unfortunately, too many young Americans do not possess the kind of basic knowledge they need. When asked fundamental questions about U.S. history and culture, they score a D and exhibit stunning knowledge gaps:

Nearly a quarter of those surveyed could not identify Adolf Hitler; 10 percent think he was a munitions manufacturer
Fewer than half can place the Civil War in the correct half-century
Only 45 percent can identify Oedipus
A third do not know that the Bill of Rights guarantees the freedom of speech and religion
Forty-four percent think that The Scarlet Letter was either about a witch trial or a piece of correspondence

There are parents all over America for whom this is no surprise. They know that the focus of their child’s school day is increasingly on preparing for basic skills tests, not on learning history or geography, reading literature, or participating in the arts. And their child’s teacher often shares in their frustration.

Another concern the survey identifies is a consistent gap—the size of a letter-grade—between respondents who have at least one college-educated parent and those who do not. This is devastating for students who come from homes where the discussion of literature and history is rare because if the school doesn’t impart this knowledge, these students are not likely ever to learn it. The burden on schools serving less-privileged students is great because they must somehow teach more just to get their students to the starting line. This survey shows that that challenge is not being adequately met.

When students graduate without knowing what Brown v. Board of Education decided or who told them to “ask not what your country can do for you,” they are being left behind in the worst way. Everyone’s children deserve to receive a comprehensive, content-rich education in the liberal arts and sciences. Of course they must be able to read and compute. But they must also possess real knowledge about important things, knowledge of civics, biology, geography, art history, languages—the full range of subjects that comprise a complete education. Any reform idea that diminishes the ability of schools and teachers to provide students with such an education is narrowing children’s futures, not expanding them. (cont'd)