Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, April 3, 1990 TAG: 9004030125
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
"It's hard to avoid the irony," said Chester E. Finn Jr., chairman of the governing board of the National Assessment of Educational Progress, popularly known as the Nation's Report Card.
"From Poland to Nicaragua, from Beijing to Berlin, from Lithuania to Azerbaijan . . . we have witnessed people struggling to attain the freedom, the political rights . . . and the democratic self-government that have characterized the United States.
"We now see that we are failing to imbue our own children with [an] appreciation for this heritage," Finn said.
Key findings of the studies on history and civics achievements for youngsters in grades four, eight and 12 were:
Most fourth-graders knew why Thanksgiving and July 4 are celebrated, but only 36 percent knew why Columbus sailed to America.
More than three-fourths of eighth-graders could identify Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech, but fewer than half knew he advocated non-violence.
In both 1986 and 1988, 11th-graders correctly answered only 55 percent of history questions. Scores improved, however, on questions about exploration and colonization, and the rise of modern America and World War I.
Only 38 percent of eighth-graders knew that Congress makes laws, more than half didn't know the meaning of separation of powers and just half knew that the United States is a representative democracy.
Nearly a third of eighth-graders and almost half the high school seniors didn't recognize the presidential veto, congressional override and Supreme Court decisions as examples of the federal system of checks and balances.
"The assessment seems to show a Trivial Pursuit sort of familiarity with some of the key figures and dramatic events of our past, but even on this level the gaps are wide," said Richard Riley, former governor of South Carolina and a member of the assessment board.
The 1988 assessments coincided with the bicentennial of the writing of the U.S. Constitution.
by CNB