About this episode
History and civics education in America is languishing. A troubling number of Americans can't even pass a U.S. citizenship test. Pioneer Institute 's recent poll findings on the topic are "pretty sobering,” explains Chris Sinacola, the organization's director of communications and media relations. The Pioneer Institute , a think tank based in Massachusetts, offers solutions for how schools and educators can ignite a passion for American history and solve the civics crisis facing the country in a new book, “ Restoring the City on a Hill: U.S. History & Civics in America's Schools .” In Pioneer's poll, Massachusetts residents were asked questions drawn from the citizenship test . The questions were about “things that new citizens, or aspiring U.S. citizens, need to know and they need to get 60% to pass,” Sinacola says, adding that “the average score among our citizens was 63%." "So you can say, 'Yay, we passed, we can all remain citizens,'” he says, but it is a bit of an “indictment” when some Americans don’t know how long a U.S. senator's term is or even how many members the Senate has. “It's a bit of a warning sign,” Sinacola says. Sinacola joins “ The Daily Signal Podcast ” to discuss America’s social studies crisis and how to correct the the course. Enjoy the show! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices