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Before you don sackcloth and ashes over the latest NAEP history results, take a deep breath.
Consider the baleful warnings from the first History-Civics NAEP in 1987-88
Or the "limited" performance of American youth on the eve of the 1976 Bicentennial
And this one makes us think twice about that "Greatest Generation."
Now here's a riddle: think about who actually made it to high school in Texas in 1917, the first time a test of historical facts was administered to American students.
The bottom line from 1917:
Go back to granddad and tell him that you are no more ignorant than he was!
But seriously, to paraphrase the ever-thoughtful Michael Schudson, historical knowledge has a way of "seeping into the cultural pores" even if such knowledge is not readily retrievable by "seventeen-year olds answering a quiz."
While we're at it, can we ask Ms. DeVos to take a quiz on the history of voter suppression in the US?
Finally, what does NAEP measure, anyway? @YAppelbaum
…https://www-washingtonpost-com.stanford.idm.oclc.org/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/09/19/the-nations-report-card-says-it-assesses-critical-thinking-in-history-but-naep-gets-an-f-on-that-score/
…https://www-washingtonpost-com.stanford.idm.oclc.org/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/09/19/the-nations-report-card-says-it-assesses-critical-thinking-in-history-but-naep-gets-an-f-on-that-score/
(in case you're paywalled from WaPo), here's a summary:
