whadaya know Joe...

[bododie]

In 2007, ISI administered a 60-question test to 14,000 students at 50 colleges nationwide. The questions were designed to measure the students’ aptitude in four areas: basic American history, government, foreign affairs, and economics. In a companion study, in 2008 ISI administered a shorter exam (33 questions) to a random sample of 2,508 Americans without a college degree in order to have a standard level against which the impact of a college education on a threshold level of familiarity with basic American institutions could be determined.

Here are a few frightening figures certain to keep you up at night:


71% of Americans failed the civics knowledge test;
51% of Americans could not name the three branches of government;
The average score for college seniors on the civics knowledge test was 54.2% (an “F” by any standard);
The average student’s test score improved only 3.8 points from freshman to senior year;
Freshmen at Cornell, Yale, Princeton, and Duke scored better than seniors on the civics knowledge test.
79% of elected officials that took the civics knowledge quiz did not know the Bill of Rights expressly prohibits the government from establishing a religion.
30% of office holders did not know that “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” are the inalienable rights referred to in the Declaration of Independence.
27% of politicians could not name even one right or freedom guaranteed by the First Amendment.
43% did not know the purpose of the Electoral College.
39% of lawmakers believe the power of declaring war belongs to the president.
The average score for college professors who took the civics knowledge quiz was 55%.
So, while our nation’s most elite colleges are not imbuing our children with a knowledge of our history and our government, the study makes it clear that those universities are becoming round the clock factories churning out poorly instructed liberals with little civic knowledge and even less faith and less devotion to principles of liberty than those Americans who didn’t go to college.

Entire article...
http://www.thenewamerican.com/index...finds-college-students-fail-basic-civics-test

And, if you’re brave, test your own knowledge of America’s history, government, foreign policy, and economics by taking the quiz posted online here. Good luck!

http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx

 

[GenSeneca]

http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx

The only question I would dispute is #30... The "correct" answer is the Keynesian answer while the Austrian answer is considered wrong. That's bogus. Other than that, pretty good test...

I wonder how many of the Leftists would pass without cheating.

 

[The Silver Eagle]

I'll take that Quiz!

Thats awful! I'd expect that any who go to College would learn something
from it. No wonder we have people like Obama in our Government and other.
Something seriously needs to be done here to improve the scores and
knowledge of the students. make them retake the class until they can pass
a decent test! They must LEARN something!

 

[Pandora]

The only question I would dispute is #30... The "correct" answer is the Keynesian answer while the Austrian answer is considered wrong. That's bogus. Other than that, pretty good test...

I wonder how many of the Leftists would pass without cheating.

4 What was the main issue in the debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas in 1858?

B. Would slavery be allowed to expand to new territories?
C. Do Southern states have the constitutional right to leave the union?

I picked C but they said its B... I thought the actual war was more over the South trying to secede from the Union. I guess I was thinking more the war its self than the debate they had.



29 A flood-control levee (or National Defense) is considered a public good because:

C. government construction contracts increase employment
B. a resident can benefit from it without directly paying for it

I picked C but they said B, how can that be right. We do directly pay for it via taxes.



30 Which of the following fiscal policy combinations would a government most likely follow to stimulate economic activity when the economy is in a severe recession?

C. decreasing taxes and increasing spending
D. decreasing both taxes and spending

They said C and I said D. I should have paid attention... would most likely follow and should follow are not the same