by David SafierI've been posting and commenting about the G.I. Civics Test since it came out, joined by a variety of commenters, including friend of the blog and coauthor of the study, Matthew Ladner. One of my complaints was, Ladner was using the study to blast public schools. "Don't know Civics" was a stand in … Read more
by David SafierAs I was mulling over Palin's wacky press conference announcing her resignation, I came up with what I thought was an original term to describe her speech patterns: Palindrone. Silly me. Google the term. It's all over the internet, with a variety of meanings. As two words, "Palin drone," it refers to a … Read more
by David SafierMy post on the Goldwater Institute's Civics test which showed high school students ignorant about basic U.S. civics questions has created quite a hubbub in the comments section, including a few comments from the study's author and friend of the blog Matthew Ladner. Rather than adding to the string of comments, I'll put … Read more
by David SafierI posted yesterday about Matthew Ladner's poll showing that high school students don't know basic civics. I'm sure he's right, and I think schools should do better, but I gently accused him of playing "Ain't it awful?" with the data — taking a pot shot at public schools by hyping a genuine finding. … Read more
by David SafierFriend of the blog and Goldwater Institute guy Matthew Ladner put out a scathing indictment of the way we teach, or don't teach, civics in schools, which Rhonda Bodfield at the Star picked up this morning. The basic story is, high schools students can't pass a U.S. citizenship test. I won't fall into … Read more