Don't Know Much About Geography: Test Results Out

Only a third of American fourth-graders could determine distance on a map, and less than half of eighth-graders knew that Islam originated in what is now Saudi Arabia, according to national geography-test scores released Tuesday.

The results of the latest National Assessment of Educational Progress, commonly known as the Nation's Report Card, revealed that U.S. students were making little progress in their understanding of geography and how people change, and are changed by, their natural environment. Only 23% of fourth-graders, 30% of eighth-graders and 21% of 12th-graders knew enough to be considered "proficient" or "advanced" on the national exam, given in January-March 2010. "Proficient" means students have a solid understanding of challenging material.

Fourth-graders showed a slight improvement since the geography exam was last administered, in 2001, and since it was given in 1994. The scores of eighth-graders remained unchanged, while 12th-graders made no progress from 2001 and slipped behind their peers in 1994.

The results, which come on the heels of similar disappointing scores on the national history and civics exams, prompted various explanations and laments from educators. Some blamed students' obsession with technology, which they said reduces facility with maps. Others said the social sciences, especially geography, are getting pushed out of the curriculum because of the intense focus on math and reading demanded under the federal No Child Left Behind education law.

Geography "is losing out to the zero-sum game that results from high-stakes testing," said Roger Downs, a geography professor at Pennsylvania State University who spoke during a news conference at which the results were announced. "As the economic and cultural forces of globalization and the impacts of global environmental change are felt by everybody everywhere, the case for geography seems both obvious and inescapable."

But Jack Buckley, the commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, which administers the exam, said the time 12th-graders spent in social-studies class and studying the subject had increased over the past decade. "There's not a lot there to tell me why," he said of the results.

Shannon Garrison, who sits on the National Assessment Governing Board, which develops the exam, said geography was an "unclaimed subject" in middle and high school. "In many districts and schools, the responsibility for teaching geography is unclear," she said.

The exam was given to a representative sample of 7,000 fourth-graders, 9,500 eighth-graders and 10,000 12th-graders in public and private schools. It is scored on a scale of 0 to 500 points. The scores are then broken into "below basic," "basic," "proficient" and "advanced."

Geography is one of eight subjects covered by the assessment program. Students are also tested in math, science, economics, reading, writing, history and civics. The tests date to the 1960s.
Read more

Growing Diversity Fuels Chinese School

San Francisco's Chinese American International School has long had a reputation for strong academics, but it has grown more popular as a rising number of non-Chinese parents bank on Chinese-language skills for their children's future.

When Christine Chessen decided to send her oldest child to CAIS eight years ago, her blond-haired daughter stood out among the sea of mostly Asian or half-Asian children. Her stock-trader husband opposed the idea, and friends thought she was crazy.

She went ahead and enrolled her daughter, because she wanted to expose her to a completely different culture. The move made sense to Ms. Chessen when she learned that there are more native speakers of Chinese in the world than those whose mother tongue is English or Spanish.

These days, her daughter isn't so unusual at CAIS, a private school that instructs in both Mandarin and English from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade.

"With the rise of Asia, people are finally jumping on the bandwagon," said Ms. Chessen, a stay-at-home mom who now has all three of her children—a first-, fourth- and sixth-grader—enrolled in the school. Her children, she said, are growing up singing Chinese songs, playing Chinese instruments and learning Chinese calligraphy, which she said she now considers all "part of our culture."

A recent survey by the school found that CAIS's non-Asian population has grown 42% over the past decade and currently makes up 27% of its 472 students. The remainder are children with partial or full Asian backgrounds, though most come from non-Chinese-speaking families.

Even though the school has increased its overall student population by 35% since 2000, it continues to be difficult to get into. More than 100 families vied for the 25 to 30 pre-K spots available next year. In the lower grades, instruction is half in Chinese, half in English; in middle school, which starts with grade six, 35% is in Chinese. The day school, in Hayes Valley, costs about $22,000 a year.
Read more