Young Americans answer about half (54 percent) of all the survey questions correctly. But by and large, majorities of young adults fail at a range of questions testing their basic geographic literacy.
* Only 37% of young Americans can find Iraq on a map—though U.S. troops have been there since 2003. * 6 in 10 young Americans don't speak a foreign language fluently.
* Half of young Americans can't find New York on a map. ---- The 2006 results show no real improvement over survey results published in 2002.
The 2002 project also surveyed 18- to 24-year-olds in Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Sweden, and Great Britain. The U.S. trailed every other country in that survey, except Mexico, which did only slightly worse. (See the 2002 results.)
Told they could escape an approaching hurricane by evacuating to the northwest, only two-thirds of American young people could indicate which way northwest is on a map. -------- In case you think that somehow the questions were tricky or too hard, below are some of the questions.
Question 1 of 20
Which of the following ranges contains the correct population of the United States today?
CHOOSE YOUR ANSWER Between 10 million and 50 million Between 150 million and 350 million Between 500 million and 750 million Between 1 billion and 2 billion Don't know
Only 31% US youth given the test got this one right.
Question 2 of 20
Which of these cities is the setting for the original television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation?
CHOOSE YOUR ANSWER San Francisco Las Vegas Chicago Los Angeles
US Youth - 39%
Question 3 of 20
In which of these countries did a catastrophic earthquake occur in October 2005, killing over 70,000 people?
CHOOSE YOUR ANSWER Sri Lanka Japan Pakistan Mexico
35% on this one
Question 4 of 20
In 2004, what percentage of population growth in the U.S. was due to immigration?
Which language is spoken by the most people in the world as their primary language?
CHOOSE YOUR ANSWER Russian Mandarin Chinese English Arabic
18% here
Question 11 of 20
Which city would be LEAST likely to be threatened by a tsunami?
CHOOSE YOUR ANSWER Honolulu, United States Manila, Philippines Tokyo, Japan Mexico City, Mexico
Another winner! 62% knew this one. Of course, that means that 38% thought it was one of the cities on an island rather than one a few hundred miles inland.
Question 13 of 20
How does the size of the population of China compare to the population of the United States?
CHOOSE YOUR ANSWER China's population is less than half the size of the population of the United States.
China's population is about the same size as the population of the United States.
China's population is about double the size of population of the United States.
China's population is more than four times the size of the population of the United States.
39% here
Question 20 of 20
On which continent is the Amazon rain forest?
CHOOSE YOUR ANSWER Africa Antarctica Asia Australia Europe North America South America
No wonder bush wants "No Child Left Behind." If we did leave one behind, we'd never find him, and he sure wouldn't find us. ************************************************** 05-02-06, 01:47 PM coldfuse The problem with these tests, of course, is that there are too many choices.
Take, for example, the language question. 18% scored correctly and there were four choices. It stands to reason that if there was only one choice, then the correct responses would have tallied 72%! ************************************************** 05-02-06, 02:37 PM DorianGreyed Fuse, in light of what has been reported in the last few years about the state of education in the US, you may be right on the money. ************************************************** 05-02-06, 07:03 PM aminator2002 It really helps when maps have the names on them.
I had a friend in grade school that memorized the different countries using the color on the map. "Oh... I know, the USSR is yellow. Oh yeah! China is the lavender one."
She was so upset when I told her about the lack of standardization of map colors. Big Grin I still laugh thinking about it. ************************************************** 05-02-06, 07:09 PM aminator2002 And how much of our population growth was due to immigration? ************************************************** 05-02-06, 07:16 PM DorianGreyed "And how much of our population growth was due to immigration?"
If you accept some of the claims about illegal immigrants taking all those jobs away from Americans, it must be a very high percentage. But those Mexicans who have come to the US illegally may just be working their way through the US to get to Canada, where they will really get a better education. I just hope that they don't stop and ask for directions from any 18-24 year-olds. ************************************************** 05-02-06, 07:26 PM frankvan Isn't it entirely possible that if it weren't for the Mexican immigrants taking the jobs that most Americans don't want the factory owners would move their factories and equipment to Mexico, or elsewhere in pursuit of cheap labor? So, in a way, the illegal immigrants are helping to keep American businesses from moving out of the country! ************************************************** 05-02-06, 07:41 PM aminator2002 I agree whole heartedly frank... I think all the statistics about immigration hurting the economy are severely flawed because they ignore the option that the company will just move to another country.
I would say that 100% of the population growth is due to immigration since us naturally born US citizens can't even procreate to keep up. I'm not even really sure it's a proper question. ************************************************** 05-02-06, 08:22 PM Sarai I honestly don't know the answer to the immigration question. What was the answer?
The other one that I didn't know was where CSI takes place. I've never seen CSI. I can't help wondering if kids in Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Sweden, and Great Britain have seen it, and if not, how reliable a comparison the exams for different countries are. If they're asking different questions, I'm not sure a comparison of the scores means much. ************************************************** 05-02-06, 09:13 PM juanruiz This is more symptomatic of the problem than the problem itself. I could write a book on the disaster of US education, but the unions and administrators would put a hit on me. The problem has nothing to do with lack of money, or resources, or good schools, or competent teachers, or stupid students. It is multifaceted. Part of it begins at home, where parents don't realize their kids are their job, and school is not just an extention of day care. At it's worst it's a bumper sticker that says "My kid beat up your honor student." At best, a laissez-faire attitude. Teachers? Well, on the one hand, they have had to become experts in fields they never got degrees in: criminal justice, sociology, psychology, cultural anthropology, teaching is an afterthought. It's easier to extract an impacted wisdom tooth than get rid of a chronically problem child, and less painful. On the other hand, teachers have allowed themselves to get accostomed to letting textbooks and all the ancillaries (test banks, CDs, etc) do the heavy lifting. And what do students learn? Use short term memory, get through the test, and move on. So it's likely they were taught the material on this test, they just deleted it. Beyond this, students, and teachers it seems, have fallen into the trap of thinking learning must be fun...no pain no gain is only for the athletic teams. "Math is hard, I don't like it. It's no fun.' Translated: I don't want to put any effort into it. And these are the same kids, the supposedly best kids from the K-12 system, to go into "higher" education. Where now more and more "higher" means the effect of beer. Professor, methos and others in the academy may have happier stories to tell than I; it could be I've been around too long. ************************************************** 05-02-06, 09:23 PM DorianGreyed Some of the questions, with links to the answers.
Sarai, I think it is unlikely that youths of other countries were asked about US TV. I am confident, however, that the comparisons made were using appropriate criteria.
Ami, populations and growth rates are generally taught in geography classes from about the 6th grade and up. Whether they are learned is apparently another matter.
To add to what JR said, another problem is the multitude of state-wide and national testing done. Since no superintendent or school board wants to be put on a watch list, getting good test scores is stressed heavily, which means that valuable learning time is taken out to "teach the test." Any educator will tell you that teaching the test will result in better test scores, but they will also point out, as JR did, that those facts needed for the test do not remain in the students' memories. Not enough time is allowed for learning "why" things happen. Somewhere recently in AP I mentioned that some birds can be taught to recite the list of US presidents. I am still waiting to hear about one that can explain why each one was elected or not re-elected. Rote learning has its place, but not at the expense of understanding. ************************************************** 05-02-06, 10:12 PM aminator2002 So that would be 33%
Roll Eyes ************************************************** 05-02-06, 10:24 PM DorianGreyed It not only would be, but it is.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: DorianGreyed,
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