By Stacy A.
Teicher | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
If Todd Letimore ever thought the founding documents of
the United States of America were simply pieces of history,
he's long since left that notion behind.
At the "Constitutional Convention" for Philadelphia's
new Constitution High School, Todd and the rest of the
inaugural ninth-grade class argued passionately as they
set up the school's government. ("The only stipulation
was they could not vote me out of office," Principal
Thomas Davidson says with a laugh.)
His social studies class is like no class he's had
before, Todd says. "We're actually interacting
and learning - we actually get a chance to debate and
say if we disagree, instead of just sitting there and
writing all day."
Part of a growing network of history-focused high schools
around the country, it's just one of the creative initiatives
under way to equip young people to engage more effectively
in American democracy.
Particularly with today's influx of immigrants, "it's
important ... to provide some kind of unifying thread,
so that students don't simply stay in their own ethnic
enclaves ... but understand that there's a similarity
among all groups and a shared knowledge of America's
past," says Michael Serber, education coordinator
at the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
in New York, a partner with Constitution High School.
Improving history education is also a critical citizenship
requirement, he says. "If you're going to deal
with issues today, how can you not understand the issues
from yesterday?"
According to a recent report, the lack of knowledge
about US history, politics, and economics among college
students amounts to a "crisis." That alarm
sounds periodically, and it's spurring a wide range
of responses - some of which simply give better opportunities
to students whose civic impulses already run deep. For
example:
• Legislation introduced recently in the US House
and Senate would establish the nation's first Public
Service Academy. Students at the college would have
their education subsidized by the federal government
in exchange for five years of service in government
or nonprofit jobs after graduation. The idea came from
former Teach for America participants Chris Myers Asch
and Shawn Raymond.
• Texas Christian University in Fort Worth has
established a Center for Civic Literacy, which brings
together students, faculty, and community members to
shape local public policy.
• The School of Law at the University of California,
Berkeley, recently joined a number of elite law schools
by expanding its loan-forgiveness program for graduates
who take public-service or advocacy jobs. The program
covers up to $100,000 in debts for qualifying students.
• The New School, a university in New York City,
just launched the Riggio Writing and Democracy Program.
Undergraduate students in one of the courses next semester
will write constitutional amendments and argue their
merits before the class.
The latest group to examine college students' grasp
of civics is the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI),
a nonprofit in Wilmington, Del., that promotes education
about the nation's "founding principles."
In a test of 14,000 college students, freshmen and seniors
on average answered only half of the 60 multiple-choice
questions correctly. The report recommends that more
universities require such core courses as American history,
political science, and economics. And it notes that
students who take such courses are more likely to vote,
volunteer, or join political campaigns.
"The study of the practice of democracy in our
country ... is a foundational study that needs to be
assured for every [college] student," says ISI
senior vice president Michael Ratliff, a retired US
Navy Rear Admiral. "We don't want a federal fiat
that requires 'X' course ... but colleges and universities
need to engage and ensure a balanced education."
Some educators, however, argue that the focus shouldn't
be on multiple-choice tests, but on what citizenship
skills students are taught that will last a lifetime.
"There's nothing inherently wrong or right with
core courses; it just depends on how they're conceived.
If it's just simply throwing names and dates at them,
most of that's going to disappear by the time they graduate,"
says Robert Polito, director of the Writing and Democracy
Program at The New School.
One skill at the center of the program Mr. Polito directs
is "close reading," which teaches students
the importance of keeping certain questions in mind
when reading everything from historical documents to
financial news. For example: What's the author's purpose
and context? What's the significance of specific words?
It's empowering for students to discover texts this
way, Polito says. "Poems, stories, speeches, and
documents like the Constitution are all examples of
rhetoric. And students need to know how to engage and
respond to those different rhetorics."
Zia Jaffrey, a writer with experience around the world,
is currently teaching a nonfiction workshop in the program.
As she strives to have her students incorporate broader
political themes into their writing, she's finding that
some resist, and some don't know where to start. "My
thing with students is for them to get out of themselves,"
she says. But it's difficult, she adds, because she's
up against a culture that emphasizes celebrity and narcissism.
The course lit a fire under Chiara Fudge, a junior
at The New School and an aspiring novelist. She says
her parents' service in the military (including her
father's duty in the 1991 Gulf War) left her with mixed
emotions about US policies. "I kind of stepped
away from really getting involved with politics, but
now I know that I have to," she says. "We
don't live in a bubble.... Everything that happens to
your neighbor ... affects all of us."
When she talks to friends outside of New York, she's
frustrated that they seem to be absorbing a message
from society that she sums up as: "Make money,
look great, and you'll rise to the top." But in
the Writing and Democracy Program, she says, she feels
better equipped to effect change. "It's important
for someone like myself who's passionate to say something
and maybe inspire someone else to get involved."
Turning away from rote learning is also the approach
at Constitution High School. With 90-minute classes
there's time for regular local field trips, says principal
Davidson. Partners such as the National Constitution
Center provide unique learning opportunities, and each
year the students will engage in a public service project.
The Gilder Lehrman Institute provides lesson plans
and brings some of its 60,000 primary documents to schools.
On its website (www.gilderlehrman.org), students can
read and compare wartime letters from the Revolutionary
War all the way up to the current conflict in Iraq.
"The goal is not to have the teacher just cover
history," Mr. Serber says, "but to help the
students discover history."
How well do you grasp civics?
On a recent test designed to measure knowledge of American
history, civics, and economics, college freshmen and
seniors scored an average of 51.7 percent and 53.2 percent
respectively - failing grades. Here are a few of the
multiple-choice questions. We have permission to show
you the correct answers, but not all the choices, as
some students are still being tested.
Question: In 1933, Franklin Delano Roosevelt proposed
a series of government programs that became known as
...
Answer: the New Deal.
Comment: Freshmen and seniors scored highest on this:
83.4 percent of the seniors and 80.7 percent of freshmen
got it right.
Q: During which period was the American Constitution
amended to guarantee women the right to vote?
A: 1901-1925.
Comment: Seniors scored 58.4 percent, freshmen 59.4
percent.
Q: According to 'just war' theory, a just war requires
which of the following?
A: the authority of a legitimate sovereign.
Comment: Only 15.6 percent of students answered this
one right - the lowest score.
Q: Which of the following was an alliance to resist
Soviet expansion?
A: North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Comment: The combined total percent who answered correctly
was 45.5.
Q: Which of the following is the best measure of production
or output of an economy?
A: Gross Domestic Product.
Comment: Freshmen scored 68.9 percent and seniors scored
74.4 percent.
Source: Intercollegiate Studies Institute
Copyright © 2006 The Christian Science Monitor.
All rights reserved.
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