In fall 2005 the Intercollegiate Studies Institute commissioned UConn?s Public Policy department to give a multiple-choice exam on American civics and history to 14,000 students from 50 different colleges. The findings…well, they speak for themselves.
The average senior scored below 70%. Only 47.9% knew that ?We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal? came from the Declaration of Independence. A surprising 28% thought that Gettysburg was the battle that ended the American Revolution. Even modern events were misunderstood. Although 45.2% knew Saddam?s support came from the Baath party, 12.2% identified his political base as the Communist Party and 5.7% chose Israel.
The most interesting result, though, was that the worst student performance was on the six questions taken from the NAEP.
The report summary is here.
