In this month's Commonweal Institute newsletter (which is unfortunately not on the website yet), Katherine Forrest details some good spade-work on an obscure right-wing think tank called the Intercollegiate Studies Institute.
The ISI recently released a report which purportedly showed that elite colleges are not properly educating students in civics, while small Christian colleges are. Forrest uncovers a number of problems with the survey, and makes a strong case that the conclusions reached are not supported by the data; it appears that ISI is dressing up an opinion piece as an academic study.
The institute's motivation is plain enough - ISI wants to take a swipe at allegedly liberal colleges like the Ivies and wants to boost small Christian colleges. But I wonder what ISI's audience and goals are? Forrest found the group through an interview in a San Francisco TV show - that would suggest that ISI's audience is the general public. But is the goal to discourage parents from sending their children to liberal arts colleges in favor of Christian colleges?
I doubt it. Few, if any, parents or college students will make their choice based on the quality of civics education. I wonder if the primary goal of this study is to push potential educational funders - whether non-ideological grantmaking foundations or governmental appropriation committees - to favor Christian colleges over liberal arts colleges.
Alternatively, perhaps the institute's goals are more or less consistent with what they say they are: promoting the teaching of political science, history, and economics on college campuses. Not a bad goal by itself, but no doubt the ISI has strong opinions about what kinds of political science, history, and economics should be taught; we can bet that Charles Beard and Howard Zinn aren't high on the ISI hero list. Moreover, one wonders why the ISI stooped to such deceptive tactics to promote such a rather bland and wonkish goal, unless there is a darker motive hidden behind the curtain.
One way or the other, kudos to Forrest for this catch. Exposing right-wing pseudo-science is extremely important.
