Through this study, the Intercollegiate Studies Institute has established for the very first time a baseline for examining civic knowledge and civic learning at America's colleges and universities. While the results are not encouraging, ISI offers this report with the hope that it will stimulate corrective action among those immediately responsible for higher education—trustees, donors, alumni, parents, public officials, administrators, faculty, and students.
Specifically, ISI will:
- Continue to assess higher education's performance on an annual basis and disseminate its findings
- Work with university professors, departments, deans, and presidents to establish centers of academic excellence
- Assist junior faculty in obtaining experience and allow them to learn from model instructors so they may become effective educators
- Ensure graduate students aspiring to the college teaching profession receive financial and intellectual support
- Provide current college students with resources to enhance their undergraduate education
- Guide parents and college-bound students toward institutions that provide a solid academic progam emphasizing the value of America's history and institutions