As a former high school social studies teacher and current member of the NH House Education Committee, I find Michael Moffett’s praise for using the United States Naturalization Examination to make for “better and smarter” NH citizens a great example of bad educational philosophy and teaching (“Civics competency,” Monitor, 8/8). Any good NH educator will tell us that correctly answering 70% of the questions on a test which has the answers publicly available will not produce better and smarter citizens.
Being able to name the year that the Constitution was written or who is the chief justice of the US Supreme Court or naming one US state that borders Canada will not translate into skills that our students need like being able to see when a politician is not telling the truth. True education does not come from memorizing the answers to a multiple choice test, but in developing critical thinking skills that can applied throughout one’s life.
As an aside, a part of the debate on this bill in the House Education Committee asked committee members some of the questions from the test. As a group they did not do well. Let’s support our public schools, not with feel good educational legislation that has no lasting value, but with increased funding for public schools that will provide our students with the skills to really become better and smarter citizens.
Art Ellison
Concord