75 Percent of Oklahoma High School Students Can't Name the First President of the U.S

[JoshLowry]

Only one in four Oklahoma public high school students can name the first President of the United States, according to a survey released today.

The survey was commissioned by the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs in observance of Constitution Day on Thursday.

Brandon Dutcher is with the conservative think tank and said the group wanted to find out how much civic knowledge Oklahoma high school students know.

The Oklahoma City-based think tank enlisted national research firm, Strategic Vision, to access students' basic civic knowledge.

"They're questions taken from the actual exam that you have to take to become a U.S. citizen," Dutcher said.

One thousand students were given 10 questions drawn from...



Read more: http://www.news9.com/global/story.asp?s=11141949

[agitator]

Don't leave us hanging like that. Who was he?

[Dr.3D]

Don't leave us hanging like that. Who was he?

George Lincoln of course. :rolleyes:

[jsu718]

George Lincoln of course. :rolleyes:

You mean George Jefferson.

[squarepusher]

George Lincoln of course. :rolleyes:

a great man

[Dr.3D]

a great man

Yep, unlike Obama, he could never tell a lie. ;)

[Austin]

You mean George Jefferson.

Ahem.. I think you mean Jefferson George...

jackass. :rolleyes:

[denison]

Yep, unlike Obama, he could never tell a lie. ;)
haha! you guys crack me up. :D

[denison]

You mean George Jefferson.

http://www.freakingnews.com/pictures/7000/George-Jefferson-7137.jpg

:D

[Warrior_of_Freedom]

How could people be that uneducated? I question this statement.

[Ninja Homer]

The first President of the Continental Congress was Peyton Randolph.
The first President under the terms of the Articles of Confederation was John Hanson.
The first President under the US Constitution was George Washington.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_the_Continental_Congress

Which flavor of President were they asking for?

[pinkmandy]

*thud*


Only about 3 percent of the students surveyed would have passed the citizenship test.

To pass they only needed to answer 6 out of 10 basic questions.

And we wonder why we have the government we have! These people vote!

This makes me want to hide in a hole or something. :eek:

[denison]

*thud*



To pass they only needed to answer 6 out of 10 basic questions.

And we wonder why we have the government we have! These people vote!

This makes me want to hide in a hole or something. :eek:

eugenics wasn't such a bad idea. :(

[Dr.3D]

eugenics wasn't such a bad idea. :(

I was thinking more along the lines of 'this is what you get with government sponsored education.'

[emazur]

That's really, really pathetic. Mission accomplished, Rockefeller General Education Board:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9501E2DE103EEE3ABC4051DFB667838A 639EDE

"In our dreams, we have limitless resources and the people yield themselves with perfect docility to our molding hands. The present educational conventions fade from our minds, and unhampered by tradition, we work our own good will upon a grateful and responsive rural folk. We shall not try to make these people or any of their children into philosophers or men of learning, or of science. We have not to raise up from among them authors, editors, poets or men of letters. We shall not search for embryo great artists, painters, musicians nor lawyers, doctors, preachers, statesmen, of whom we have an ample supply. The task we set before ourselves is a very simple as well as a very beautiful one, to train these people as we find them to a perfectly ideal life just where they are. So we will organize our children and teach them to do in a perfect way the things their fathers and mothers are doing in an imperfect way, in the homes, in the shops, and on the farm."

I finished high school 12 years ago and I know all the answers to those questions now, but I know back in the day I would have missed at least 3 of those questions:
How many justices are there on the Supreme Court?
We elect a U.S. senator for how many years?
What are the two parts of the U.S. Congress?

And possibly the "supreme law of the land" question too, though I think I could have guessed correctly. And I was in the honors and AP classes too. At my high school American Government was only a half-year subject (which was actually 4 - 5 months). That was offered in the senior year, when everybody has senioritis, but I don't think it would have made much of a difference if it was offered earlier and for a full school year. Our American Government teacher was horrible and mean and we passed around a petition to fire her (which I signed), but of course nothing ever came of it.

[emazur]

Ahem.. I think you mean Jefferson George...

jackass. :rolleyes:

whatevah, putz :rolleyes: you could learn a thing or two from denison, i clearly remember first lady Weezie and I know her last name was Jefferson
http://imgur.com/o5GxU.jpg

[jsu718]

whatevah, putz :rolleyes: you could learn a thing or two from denison, i clearly remember first lady Weezie and I know her last name was Jefferson
http://imgur.com/o5GxU.jpg

I am SO glad that went as I planned :)

[emazur]

I am SO glad that went as I planned :)

Yeah, I messed up actually and put her face on Washington's wife instead of Jefferson's. Oh well

[Captain America]

http://www.freakingnews.com/pictures/7000/George-Jefferson-7137.jpg

:D

reading the comments and then seeing this photo. this is one of the funniest things ive read in awhile.

[Original_Intent]

http://www.freakingnews.com/pictures/7000/George-Jefferson-7137.jpg

:D

We're movin' on up...classic!

[KCIndy]

I'm beginning to believe we're doomed.

According to the news story, the students didn't do much better with the other questions:


Question, followed by the percentage of Students Who Answered Correctly:

What is the supreme law of the land? 28%

What do we call the first ten amendments to the Constitution? 26%

What are the two parts of the U.S. Congress? 27%

How many justices are there on the Supreme Court? 10%

Who wrote the Declaration of Independence? 14%

What ocean is on the east coast of the United States? 61%

What are the two major political parties in the United States? 43%

We elect a U.S. senator for how many years? 11%

Who was the first President of the United States? 23%

Who is in charge of the executive branch? 29%



Does anyone here teach high school kids?

I would love to conduct this same experiment with a twist: I would offer the kids a chance to take the test voluntarily (this would have to be an "instant" sort of situation, with cell phones and Blackberries put away, and no time to study or go running to Wikipedia) and I would offer an incentive to anyone who passed the test. Say, a large Hershey bar or a couple of McDonalds gift certificates or something for anyone who could hit six of ten, same as the immigration standard.

My hope - my only real hope - of explaining these horrible test scores is that the students taking the test were simply screwing around or goofing with it since it obviously wasn't counting toward a grade.

[RedStripe]

Yep. We're fucked.

[The Deacon]

I bet they can all write a 5 page essay about how great King Lincoln was ...:rolleyes:

[ClayTrainor]

This is pretty sad. Canadians are equally ignorant of history. We pretty much ignore everything that happened before ww2 for the most part. Very few can name our first prime minister.

I often hear Lincoln regarded as a founding father, when talking about American history with people.

[disorderlyvision]

well they probably said "George Washington" and they were wrong.

[ClayTrainor]

well they probably said "George Washington" and they were wrong.

not if the constitution is regarded as the birth of america, no?

Is being president of the continental congress the same thing as being president of the US?

[angelatc]

Here in Michigan, they just decided to change all their curriculum. American Government used to be a unit in the 5th grade, but they just moved it down to 4th. But instead of adjusting the changes starting with the Kindergarten crowd, they just implemented it now. So my 5th grader won't even get an American government unit.

And they also replaced "electricity" with "Race and Genetics." The science teacher was openly mourning that decision.

[dannno]

You mean George Jefferson.

No, he was our first BLACK President :rolleyes:

http://www.magnetmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/george-jefferson3951.jpg

[disorderlyvision]

not if the constitution is regarded as the birth of america, no?

Is being president of the continental congress the same thing as being president of the US?

I would consider the Declaration of Independence to be the birth, not the constiution which was ratified over a decade later

The presidents before George Washington

Peyton Randolph - 1st pres of CC

Henry Middleton

John Hancock

Henry Laurens

John Jay

Samuel Huntington

Thomas McKean

John Hanson - 1st president under the AoC

Elias Boudinot

Thomas Mifflin

Richard Henry Lee

Nathaniel Gorham

Arthur St. Clair

Cyrus Griffin
---
George Washington -1st president under Constitution

[ClayTrainor]

I would consider the Declaration of Independence to be the birth, not the constiution which was ratified over a decade later


Good point!



The presidents before George Washington

Peyton Randolph - 1st pres of CC

Henry Middleton

John Hancock

Henry Laurens

John Jay

Samuel Huntington

Thomas McKean

John Hanson - 1st president under the AoC

Elias Boudinot

Thomas Mifflin

Richard Henry Lee

Nathaniel Gorham

Arthur St. Clair

Cyrus Griffin
---
George Washington -1st president under Constitution

I'm learning every day :o

[Live_Free_Or_Die]

I bet they can all write a 5 page essay about how great King Lincoln was ...:rolleyes:

:)

[BillyDkid]

Don't leave us hanging like that. Who was he?LOL. You know what dawned on my last night and bothered me quite a lot? I don't know who the President of Mexico or the PM of Canada are. I should know these things, I guess, but I also guess that it is pretty much irrelevant who these people are.