At the same time that the United States is struggling in the midst of a conservative Republican “culture war” against American history that is dividing the nation, crippling government, and undermining education, distressing national test scores show that student knowledge of U.S. History and civics is declining with frightening prospects for the future of democracy in this country.
The conservative Republican “culture war” is trying to erase the history of race and racism in the United States. They control a number of state governments and have outlawed discussion of topics that might make white people uncomfortable by labeling them Critical Race Theory. But of course you cannot understand the history of the United States unless you discuss slavery, racial terrorism, and segregation in the past and whether it continues to impact our society today.
A big part of the reason for declining history and civics test scores is Common Core and the high-stakes testing regime in English and Math initiated by the Bush administration over twenty years ago. Because students, teachers, schools, and school districts are evaluated based on these test scores, prepping a students for the tests have become the focus of education.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress administered by the Department of Education are not used for evaluation of students and teachers but to measure whether the Common Core initiative is actually improving education and student performance in the United States, which it isn’t. On the most recent exams, approximately 40% middle school students scored “below basic” in U.S. history, largely because they learned no U.S. history in elementary school. And the numbers are getting worse. In 2014, 29% of students scored “below basic.” Meanwhile, only 13% of eighth graders were considered proficient, compared to 18% ten years ago.
Under the Common Core educational regime, subjects that are not tested like history and civics have been marginalized. New York State dropped its fifth grade and eighth grade tests in history and social studies that were used to measure student learning and to help teachers design curriculum. It also eliminated world history prior to 1750 from its 10th grade exam removing the impact of the Columbian Exchange on the indigenous people of the Americas and the trans-Atlantic slave trade as important topics that students need to explore.
New York State has also even redesigned its 10th grade world history and 11th grade United States history exam removing most content and conceptual questions so that the exams parallel Common Core tests that focus on reading skills and text evaluation. The answers are in the text, so students search and find and don’t have to know anything. New York State is now considering whether it will eliminate these tests all together as graduation requirements.
In a release, the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) responded that is “deeply concerned by the 2022 NAEP results and contends that these results point to the continued, devastating effects that reducing or fully eliminating social studies courses and programs from schools — especially at the elementary-level — have on student achievement and preparation for college, career, and civic life . . . NCSS continues to call upon policy makers and educational leaders to stop this cycle of curricular neglect and make a long-term financial commitment to support social studies educators in teaching social studies in all grades, in all schools, and to all students. NCSS calls for action to ensure that all students — no matter where they attend school — have access to deep, rich subject-area content and exposure to relevant, powerful social studies instruction.
According to Shannon M. Pugh, NCSS president, “If our social studies classrooms are laboratories for democracy where students are learning the content knowledge and skills necessary to be responsible community members and engaged citizens, we should be greatly troubled. This data suggests that students are not receiving a comprehensive program of social studies education in our nation’s classrooms, and we are especially underserving students from diverse and traditionally marginalized and minoritized backgrounds. If we want to leave our representative democracy in the hands of the next generation, we must ensure that they are receiving a high-quality social studies education that includes daily social studies instruction at all grade levels and that in our younger grades we are not pulling students from social studies instruction for remediation in other subjects. Democracy is important. Our republic is important. Social studies education is important because it supports and protects our nation’s ideals and values. To continue to marginalize social studies and not invest in our students and teachers is a threat to our future as a nation and our role as a leader within the global community.”
The New York Times released five questions considered of medium difficulty from the eighth-grade U.S. history test. Try it yourself. Online, you can check your answers.
1. What were European explorers such as Henry Hudson looking for when they sailed the coast and rivers of North America in the 1600s?
- A water trade route to Asia.
- A land route to South America.
- Land to use for sugar plantations.
- Religious freedom.
2. Which of the following is a right guaranteed by the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution?
- Right to public education
- Right to health care
- Right to trial by a jury
- Right to vote
3. The following passage is taken from a proclamation signed by President George Washington in 1793.
“It appears that a state of war exists between Austria, Prussia, Sardinia, Great Britain, and the United Netherlands, of the one part, and France on the other; and the duty and interest of the United States require, that [we] should with sincerity and good faith adopt and pursue a conduct friendly and impartial toward the belligerent (combating) powers.”
Which of the following policies was President Washington recommending?
- Colonialism
- Neutrality
- Imperialism
- Isolationism
4. Which of the following changes took place in Southern states immediately after the Civil War?
- Access to education became more available to African American people.
- Most African Americans quickly switched from agricultural work to employment in manufacturing.
- African American women were given the right to vote.
- State governments were required to have African American people in legislative and executive offices.
5. Which of the following reasons best explains why many people supported the Eighteenth Amendment, which banned the sale of alcohol?
- They believed that drinking alcohol had a negative impact on society.
- They wanted to prevent organized crime from profiting from alcohol sales.
- They believed that alcohol would hurt the country's ability to fight in the Second World War.
- They hoped alcohol would become more expensive if it were made illegal.