From: The Washington Post
Should we teach obscure presidents like Millard Fillmore?
The Washington Post:
Should we teach the presidency of Millard Fillmore? What do we lose if we don’t?
According to research by human memory expert Henry Roediger, III at Washington University in St. Louis, only 8 percent of college students can list Fillmore when asked to write down the names of U.S. presidents.
Yet, though changes in education—including the rise of Common Core standards—have meant fewer of today’s students are required to memorize the name of every commander-in-chief, it turns out that previous generations were no better at recalling the 13th president. Roediger has been conducting the same experiment for roughly 40 years, and Fillmore’s presidency has stayed at about the same level of obscurity the entire time.
Read the whole story: The Washington Post
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