George,

I think the current "teaching to the test" is a major problem. When I taught History in the late '50' and 60's, students actually read the textbook - which I found to be reasonably good texts I taught in both public and private high schools. In NY state, we were forbidden to ever mention the Regents (statewide tests), let alone teach to it. Also, there was more emphasis on essay writting (short and long essays on tests) which facilitated more critical thinking.

Today, in my limited capacity as a substitute teacher in a public high school, I think students are much more apt to "cut and paste", which is made so easy because of computers. How can we have informed voters if they don't study World History, US History, other cultures and stay abreast of current events?

Sallie Kate Park (Electronic mail, September 25, 2007)

PS I scored 93.33% on the Civics test.