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Thursday, July 03, 2008

Guest View: Colleges Need To Fulfill Civic Duty

By Richard Brake, Ph.D.
Intercollegiate Studies Institute
      As we move toward the conclusion of a landmark presidential election and the nation continues to contemplate its role in the Iraq conflict, Independence Day presents an ideal moment to reflect on the historical events and people that have led to, and continue to define, our independence as a nation.
    Sadly, it is doubtful that the topic of America's founding will come up at the family barbecue, especially among our nation's youth. And if the conversation did happen to move in an historical direction, new data from the Intercollegiate Studies Institute makes you wonder if our youth would even be able to carry on such a discussion — especially when it involves the Declaration of Independence, our founding document. According to the data, most college students wouldn't be able to tell you that Declaration of Independence is the source for the historic line “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” So who is to blame for this void in learning?
    One place to start is our nation's colleges. On July 4, 1776, America's founding fathers introduced the idea that government should govern only with the consent of the governed. In an effort to ensure the long-term success of this new government, they helped establish colleges and universities designed to enlighten future leaders about the founding principles of representative government. Their mission was to provide young men and women with the knowledge necessary to be citizens capable of sustaining self-rule in a free nation. Over the years, this civic mission seems to have been lost.
    Approximately 14,000 seniors and freshmen on 50 campuses across the country were given ISI's 60-question multiple-choice test about our nation's history and institutions. (The test was administered by the University of Connecticut's Department of Public Policy on behalf of ISI). Both seniors and freshmen scored just over 50 percent. Even more concerning, many of our most prestigious schools performed worst in adding civic knowledge, with freshmen from schools like Cornell, Yale and Princeton doing better than seniors (a phenomenon ISI refers to as “negative learning”).
    The students' knowledge about the Declaration of Independence was not much better. Seniors from across the nation achieved an average score of 61.75 percent, a D-minus on a traditional grading scale, on several questions covering that formative moment in American history. The average score for freshmen was 62.12 percent. These findings reveal that college is making no difference in citizens' knowledge of perhaps the most important document in America's political annals.
    If we are to expect our nation's youth to offer educated opinions and make informed decisions on issues related to our democratic process and the future of the country, then we need to continue reinforcing the historical relevance of the events of our past. As the author of the Declaration of Independence himself noted (you can name him, correct?), “If you expect a nation to be ignorant and free, you expect what never was and what can never be.”
    Education about our nation's history and founding simply should not stop after high school (that's the excuse many colleges give for their lackluster civic education performance, “It's not our job!”). ISI's study also indicates that greater learning about America goes hand-in-hand with active citizenship. Since most college-aged students are just beginning to consider participation in civic and political-related activities — whether it be casting a vote for the next president or volunteering for community/military service — one can argue that continued education about America's history and institutions is essential.
    Despite this important point, most college curricula are inadequate when it comes to America's history and founding. Colleges need to return to a core curriculum that would increase the number and quality of required history, political science and economics courses. They also need to do a better job of encouraging students to take elective courses about America's history and institutions. The average senior in the study had taken a total of only 3.5 courses in the combined subject areas of history, political/social science and economics. This is simply unacceptable.
    Academic stakeholders need to be held accountable as well. University presidents, trustees, donors, legislators and even parents and taxpayers need to demand more, to make it their mission to help students acquire the knowledge required to participate responsibly in public life. If they do, maybe future Fourth of July discussions will start expanding beyond vacations, baseball and other rites of summer to include the Declaration of Independence. Our future as an independent nation might just depend on it.
   

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