American students don’t know much about the humanities, concludes a new report from Common Core. No Child Left Behind, which holds schools accountable for reading and math only, is taking some of the blame.
But NAEP scores show no decline in history or civics knowledge in the NCLB era, notes D-Ed Reckoning’s Ken DeRosa. History and civics scores are improving very slightly for 17-year-olds, the group surveyed by Common Core.
Compare the pre-NCLB scores (’94 and ‘01) to the post-NCLB scores (’06). If anything, the post-NCLB scores show small (mostly statistically significant, but surely not educationally significant) gains. If 2006’s 17 year-olds are dummies, this data shows they were just about as dumb (or slightly smarter) as their ‘01 and ‘94 cohorts.
Fourth graders are showing significant improvement in history, perhaps because schools’ emphasis on teaching reading is paying off.
Update: At The Quick and the Ed, Kevin Carey suggests that young folks know less than us oldsters because they have less life experience. He also wonders how people can bemoan the ignorance of the young while opposing the memorization of historical facts.
You can’t learn literature or history until you can read well; that’s more than half of what’s generally covered under “humanities”. As for the rest, illiterates can look at pictures and statues, but you have to read to learn about the artists, the various styles and movements in the arts, the historical context, etc.