Democratic lawmaker's own survey shows vastly more OK students passing civics test

Oklahoma City, OK - The suspect results of a recent civics survey sponsored by a conservative Oklahoma think tank were further called into question after a Democratic state lawmaker's own civics test found that public school students know their government.

Rep. Ed Cannaday, D-Porum, turned a skeptical eye toward a survey commissioned by the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs (OCPA) when their results showed only 2.8% of state high school students could pass a basic civics knowledge test. A retired educator, Rep. Cannaday gave the same test to all high-school seniors in his District 15, with starkly different results.

"Rather than an average of 28% correct, the students in District 15 got 78% correct on the same test," Rep. Cannaday stated. "After spending decades in the classroom working directly with students, I could not fathom that the OCPA results were realistic.

"I'm very happy for the students that my suspicions were correct, but at the same time I'm disappointed that such obviously inaccurate survey results were so widely reported as true."

In September, OCPA reported results from Strategic Vision, a Georgia-based polling firm, that showed Oklahoma high-school students failing a basic civics test that asked questions such as the names of the first U.S. President and of the two major political parties in the U.S. A cloud of suspicion grew around Strategic Vision's survey after they refused to disclose details about their methodology and about their results. (See links below.)

"Disclosing these details is standard operating procedure for any reputable polling firm," stated Karina Henderson, Communications & New Media Director for the Oklahoma Democratic Party. "Transparency in polling reassures the public that the results are legitimate. Strategic Vision has been reluctant to disclose these standard details, and it casts tremendous doubt on the legitimacy of their data."

Rep. Cannaday administered the same ten-question exam to every high-school senior in District 15, a total of 325 students from 10 schools. The results showed a stark difference on every question, with students on Rep. Cannaday's survey vastly outperforming those polled by Strategic Vision. (See summary below.)

"I'm confident that Rep. Cannaday's survey shows the achievement of real Oklahoma students, and I remain highly suspicious of the validity of the OCPA survey," said Henderson.

"OCPA and Republican leaders have an ulterior motive – they have been trying to dismantle public education in our state for years. The fact that they have promoted such questionable results undermines their credibility and makes it look as though they're pushing a political agenda, not policy research.

"But this time it's at the expense of our schools and our children – I think they've gone too far," she added.

Rep. Cannaday noted that students across the state who are participating in Celebrate Freedom Week this week can look to this as a real-life exercise in citizenship. "I think this is an excellent lesson to take into the classroom as a part of Celebrate Freedom Week. As Americans, we have both the freedom and the responsibility to ask questions when information is given to us via the press or any other source," he said.

"When I saw the results of the original survey, I had the freedom to find the answers for myself – and guess what, my answers were very, very different. This is part of our duty as citizens, to come up with our own answers and discuss them openly.

"I hope to continue this discussion with the students I'll be visiting this week in the classroom, as well as with my Democratic and Republican colleagues," he concluded.

Links to analysis of OCPA results, Strategic Vision's methodology, and Rep. Cannaday's test:
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/11/real-oklahoma-students-ace-citizenship.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125487188014969039.html
http://www.pollster.com/blogs/strategic_vision_time_for_tran.php
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/09/are-oklahoma-students-really-this-dumb.html

Summary of survey results, compared (table courtesy of Rep. Ed Cannaday):