What can parents do to increase civic learning?
Parents of future undergraduates should consider the findings from all of ISI’s Civic Literacy Reports, keeping in mind that prestige does not pay off in terms of learning. U.S. News rankings offer some guidance, but it and others like it do not measure the most important aspect of undergraduate education: what students are actually taught and what they actually learn.
Specifically, parents can:
- Encourage students to choose courses that teach America’s heritage.
- Make current events and history an important part of family conversation.
- Encourage students to avoid spending too much time on the phone or in front of the television, and provide them with engaging reading materials—from history and biography to great works of fiction and literature.
- Help your prospective college students choose a school with a good record in teaching America’s heritage while avoiding the promotion of ideological agendas.
The Intercollegiate Studies Institute offers several resources of interest to parents:
ISI’s Membership Program for college-aged students (Free)
Asking the Right Questions in Choosing a College (Free)
Choosing the Right College (CollegeGuide.org)
All-American Colleges (ISI Books)
Student’s Guides to the Major Disciplines (CollegeGuide.org)
Recalling Education (ISI Books)
At War with the Word (ISI Books)
Civic Education and Culture (ISI Books)
John Dewey and the Decline of American Education (ISI Books)
Bonfire of the Humanities (ISI Books)
The Life of the Mind (ISI Books)
Additional resources can be found at www.CollegeGuide.org.
