This from the blog, The Daily Kos:
"US elected officials scored abysmally on a test measuring their civic knowledge, with an average grade of just 44 percent, the group that organized the exam said Thursday.
Ordinary citizens did not fare much better, scoring just 49 percent correct on the 33 exam questions compiled by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI)."
You can find the quiz here. I scored an 82% -- 27 out of 33. Doesn't seem that good for a social studies teacher, but according to the test-makers the average for all college instructors is just over 55%. The test itself seems too heavily weighted on economics questions to me, but it's still worth taking, I think. See how you do. If you beat me you automatically get an A in the class.
Just kidding. But you do get bragging rights.
8 comments:
Wow, I really suck. I found myself guessing at more of the questions than knowing the answers. That showed me how much I really did not learn in AP government. Looks like I need to go back and review. This was my score:
You answered 19 out of 33 correctly — 57.58 %
Average score for this quiz during November: 77.8%
Average score: 77.8%.
A lot of the questions I got wrong had to deal with the branches of government and what they do. I realized that back in that class I did a lot of memorization for the Constitution test. Looks like I only studied what had to be passed. It goes to show that teaching students just to study to book does not mean they will always remember it. If I had to take one lesson out of this bad grade I got it would be to never force a student to learn something. I know I am student teaching third grade so there has to be a lot memorized for taking the ISAT for the first time. I just want to be able to make learning how to take the ISAT fun and not boring. I want to make sure that everything my students learn will help to benefit them in the future.
You answered 24 out of 33 correctly — 72.73 %
I guess I did OK, but I always hear about how stupid we are as a country and how other countries know more about our history and government than we do and that's sad. It goes to show our teachers have not done a good job and it is something for us as teachers to think about.
I did hear about this topic on the news and I was excited to see what types of questions were asked. As I was taking the test, I noticed there were a lot of questions dealing with government and economics and not really with history which were the ones I got wrong. I did as well as the elected officials which sadly does not seem too great. Just like Caroline said, in my social studies class I must have memorized the facts to pass the test and forget about it later. Some of the questions I had no idea and and lets me know how I felt during social studies class with the material being presented.
My score was: You answered 24 out of 33 correctly — 72.73 %
The questions that were the most difficult for me were the economic questions like many of the others who took the quiz. In my eighth grade class they just finished learning about the U.S. Constitution so that helped me with many of those questions. I also did my unit on the Civil War which helped me with the Lincoln/Douglas debate question. I feel that if I had not have had that recent review I would not have done as well because in my high school social studies classes much of it was memorization for tests. I agree with what Caroline said, students cannot be forced to learn something. I know that when I had to start my unit on the Civil War I really did not remember much about it other than it was between the North and the South and the main disagreement was over slavery. I had to reteach myself so much. I actually enjoyed learning about it this time around because I was not just learning it to do well on a test. I hope that I can make the topic interesting for my students so they will get something out of it.
I agree with Greg that this quiz was slightly weighted on the economic side. I did better than I thought I would, scoring 21 out of 33. The questions that I missed most were questions that dealt with the constitution or other political documents. I did will with branches of government, but it has been a long time since I studied the constitution, so I was not surprised to get these questions wrong. I was shocked at the averages for the nation and for the elected officials. If I can get 21 correct, that should be a cake walk for someone who works in government.
Holy Cow! I answered 17/33 correctly, a 49%. I figured I would not do very well on this test and this definitely reflects on my previous experiences in social studies. When I was in middle school learning about the Constitution we were given a pre-test that was the exact same as the test. I simply memorized the form of the test and did not retain any of the information. Another reason I did so poorly was because social studies was meaningless. My teachers would spit facts and dates at us and as students it was our job to memorize them for the test.
I am the type of student who can remember something for a test but then immediately forgets it. Social studies should be taught to be meaningful and impactful for students. If there is no connection between the material it is probable that it will be forgotten.
Unlike my past experiences I plan on teaching to make meaning. After taking Greg's class I have found out that I do enjoy social studies. I also have become more enthusiastic about teaching it to my students.
I did score very poorly on this test and it probably mean that I do not remember much from my classes. This test shows me that as teachers we need to teach so students can remember history.
You answered 20 out of 33 correctly — 60.61 %
Sadly, I was actually impressed with my score. I know that I have very little knowledge about government, politics, and the economy, where most of the questions derived from.
Carli, I have heard also that our country is not the brightest. These scores are pretty sad, considering it is regarding our nation's history. I was thinking about your comment, how teachers are not doing their job. As a future teacher, I think that we need to focus thinking of alternative ways of teaching such issues in a way that will make the information stick. This information is too important to go through one ear and out the other. The content looks boring, but we need to find ways to make it interesting so that students will want to learn the material, and will remember it for a long period of time. Does anybody remember fun ways that they learned the material? To be honest, I really don't.
I got a 21 out of 33 and I am not going to lie, that is more than I thought I would get right. I agree with Michelle and Greg, I thought there was a lot of economics on the test. That was the majority of questions that I got wrong. I have never taken an economics class in my entire life, I guess you can thank limited electives in private schools for that. I am learning more now with my seventh graders in their economics unit than I ever have known before. I guess I have some reading to do...
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