HW 45 - More Big Thoughts on Schools

E.D. Hirsch Jr: Hirsch was born in the conservative town of Memphis Tennessee. A Yale graduate, he was very interested in how the human mind interpreted information. While most people think that in order to understand a text it must be easy to read, Hirsch argues, you must have sufficient background knowledge in order to really understand the text. In a study that Hirsch did at the University of Virginia, and then again at a Community College, he found out:
" Students at the University of Virginia were able to understand a passage on Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee, while students at a community college struggled with it, apparently lacking basic understanding of the American Civil War."