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75 Percent of Oklahoma High School Students Can't Name the First President of the U.S.
Posted: Sep 16, 2009 12:17 PM EST Updated: Sep 17, 2009 10:30 AM EST
(AP Photo) Gilbert Stuart's 1796 oil on canvas portrait of George Washington on display at Washington's National Portrait Gallery. A majority of Oklahoma high school students could not name Washington as the nation's first president in a recent survey.
OKLAHOMA CITY -- 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.
A thousand students were given 10 questions drawn from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services item bank. Candidates for U.S. citizenship must answer six questions correctly in order to become citizens.
About 92 percent of the people who take the citizenship test pass on their first try, according to immigration service data. However, Oklahoma students did not fare as well. Only about 3 percent of the students surveyed would have passed the citizenship test.
Dutcher said this is not just a problem in Oklahoma. He said Arizona had similar results, which left him concerned for the entire country.
"Jefferson later said that a nation can't expect to be ignorant and free," Dutcher said. "It points to a real serious problem. We're not going to remain ignorant and free."
What is the supreme law of the land? The Constitution 28
What do we call the first ten amendments to the Constitution? The Bill of Rights 26
What are the two parts of the U.S. Congress? The House and the Senate 27
How many justices are there on the Supreme Court? Nine 10
Who wrote the Declaration of Independence? Thomas Jefferson 14
What ocean is on the east coast of the United States? Atlantic 61
What are the two major political parities in the United States? Democratic and Republican 43
We elect a U.S. senator for how many years? Six 11
Who was the first President of the United States? George Washington 23
Who is in charge of the executive branch? The President 29
More: Read the Full Report from OCPA
[[A copy is available at http://wheresthepaper.org/MatthewLadner090901MourningConstitutional.htm ]]
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