By Guest Blogger: Emmanuel Caudillo
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences recently unveiled a series of indicators on humanities in the public schools. The academy’s chief executive officer, Leslie Berlowitz, states:
This is the first set of comprehensive statistical information about the state of the humanities in the United States.
There is data on topics such as the amount of foreign languages classes that students are taking and students’ knowledge of civics and U.S. history. In addition, there is data on educational background of humanities teachers and humanities in American life such as popularity of historic sites and book reading habits of children.
These indicators show why it is important that students are receiving a full liberal arts education. In examining the indicators, it is apparent that the humanities need more focus in the curriculum:
The disappointing performance of students on many of the indicators, including national assessments in history and civics, some experts say, provides evidence that the humanities are given too little attention in the school curriculum.
Overall, these indicators will become useful resources for policymakers and stakeholders who support a rigorous liberal arts curriculum. It will not allow them to analyze trends and problems, but more importantly, it will assist them in promoting the humanities in the curriculum.
Tags: humanities