Arizona High Schools Fail Civics
By Sun Kyu Bae |
Published July 3, 2009 |
Articles |
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Is there any justification as to why Arizona high school students failed a sample civics test? Find out here.
Hi everyone.
As we head into the long weekend, we're all probably in holiday-mode right now, thinking about what we need to buy for the BBQ, fireworks shows, etc.
But I'd like to take a moment and ask, why do we celebrate 4th of July?
Directed at responsible homeschool educators such as yourselves (or responsible soon-to-be homeschool educators), the answer to this question is probably obvious.
But don't take that position with Arizona high school students.
You see, based on an article by the Goldwater Institute, only 3.5% of them got 6 out of 10 questions correct from a database of questions asked on the U.S. Citizenship test (6 out of 10 is considered passing for U.S. Citizenship).
This is contrasted by the fact that 92.4% of applicants for the U.S. Citizenship test pass on their first attempt.
OK - I want to stop right here because I'm feeling the pangs of public school bashing coming on, and since I have a vested interest in both homeschooling AND public schools (since we homeschool Ryan and send Lauren to public school), let me put on my public school hat on for a change and put some context behind the results of this test - I promise to get to a fair conclusion.
Ready? Let's go.
The Goldwater Institute
First off, what is the Goldwater Institute, the organization that sponsored this test?
In their own words, the Goldwater Institute is a think-tank founded in 1988 "…dedicated to protecting and expanding economic freedom, constitutional liberty and educational opportunity". Similar to the values that Senator Barry Goldwater represents, the organization believes that "…while the legitimate functions of government are conducive to freedom, unrestrained government has proved to be a chief instrument in history for thwarting individual liberty".
Another important note, the Goldwater Institute claims to be independent in its research, as the organization "…does not retain lobbyists or engage in partisan political activity".
Finally, the organization "…neither seeks nor accepts government funds, and no single contributor provides more than five percent of its revenue."
Based on this, my personal take on the Goldwater Institute is that they are an independent organization when it comes to research.
But they are not objective when it comes to their views - I say this because as long as an organization operates under its own beliefs, I don't consider that as being objective. Of course, not being objective basically means that you don't have any views of your own on issues, so unless you're a spineless jellyfish, I think it's safe to say that most of us are not objective (including yours truly).
Now, I'm sure far away, in a place I will call "Dreamland", that there is such an organization that is BOTH independent AND objective.
But down here on good 'ole Earth, I'm afraid that's pretty tough to find. And the reality is, as long as us opinionated humans are running the show, that independent but not objective is the closest you will ever get to reporting near-unbiased results.
Therefore, I believe that these results were delivered fairly by the Goldwater Institute.
Now that we cleared the fairness of the test sponsor, let's get down to the questions.
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