American High School Students Don’t Know Who Hitler Was

By Anastacia Mott Austin

You knew it was bad. But did you know that almost 25% of high school students recently surveyed could not identify Adolf Hitler, and almost half could not guess, within 50 years, when the Civil War was fought?

The survey was conducted by Common Core, a bipartisan Washington, D.C. based group advocating for a broader liberal arts education for American students. The group’s report, based on survey results and written by Frederick Hess, was released this week.

Common Core performed a telephone survey of 1200 17-year-olds last month, asking them 33 multiple questions about history and literature.

The report is a thinly-veiled attack against the Bush administration’s "No Child Left Behind" policy of using standardized testing to ensure universal proficiency in reading and math. The group feels that the policy focuses too much on testing and that as a result teachers are "teaching to the test," and students are missing out on other areas of their education.

"The nation’s education system has become obsessed with testing and basic skills because of the requirements of federal law, and that is not healthy," said Antonia Cortese and Diane Ravitch, authors of a preface to the report.

As it exists today, the scores on standardized testing are responsible for schools’ retention of state and federal funds. If students fail the test, the schools lose their funding.

Common Core’s members are a politically diverse group, including those who rank high on both sides of the aisle. The report’s contributors include Cortese, who is the executive vice president of the American Federation of Teachers, which has influence in the Democratic Party, as well as Ravitch, who worked under the first President Bush.

"We’re a truly diverse group," said Lynne Munson, executive director of Common Core. "We almost certainly vote differently, and we have varying opinions about different aspects of educational reform. But when it comes to concern that all of America’s children receive a comprehensive liberal arts and science education, we all agree."

The group is right to be concerned about the youth of America.

Almost a third of students surveyed did not know who said, "Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country."

Nearly 25% of students surveyed thought that Christopher Columbus sailed for the New World after 1750.

And while there was some good news – 97% of students correctly identified Martin Luther King, Jr., as the speaker of the "I Have a Dream" speech – Common Core says that there is a lot of room for improvement in America’s schools.

"What should we take from these findings?" asked author Hess. "It is essential that parents, policymakers, and educators examine what we are doing when it comes to the teaching of history and culture."