How US Students' Understanding of Civics and History Is Notably Worsening

US students' understanding of the country's history and civics is declining. 

Some of the reason may have been due to the pandemic, but experts believe that is not the primary reason. Efforts to reduce teaching of the subjects by those with a restrictive political agenda, debate about what and how it should be taught and focus on math or business subjects are also contributing factors which may be serving to undermine Americans' knowledge of their country. JL 

Donna St. George reports in the Washington Post:

Just 13% of the nation’s eighth graders were proficient in U.S. history last year, and 22% were proficient in civics, marking another decline in performance during the pandemic and alarm about how well students understand their country and its government. The results reflect that social studies instruction has been “marginalized,” particularly at the state level, where officials measure progress only in reading and math. Debates over how to teach history "may be getting in the way of doing it.” Contributing factors to low scores include: poor state standards, poorly trained teachers, limited  time, uneven curriculums and the lack of an accountability system.  “Banning history books and censoring educators from teaching important subjects (such as race and gender) does our students a disservice."

Just 13 percent of the nation’s eighth graders were proficient in U.S. history last year, and 22 percent were proficient in civics, marking another decline in performance during the pandemic and sounding an alarm about how well students understand their country and its government.

The findings, released Wednesday, show a five-point slide since 2018 in the average history score on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, often called “the nation’s report card.” In civics, eighth grade scores fell two points, the first decline ever recorded on the tests, which cover the American political system, principles of democracy and other topics.

Peggy G. Carr, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, referred to the results as “a national concern,” saying that “too many of our students are struggling … to understand and explain the importance of civic participation, how American government works and the historical significance of events.”

 

In U.S. history, students across most racial and ethnic groups lost ground, as did all but the highest performers. Scores in both subjects are now comparable to the 1990s.

“These are two critically important subject areas, not just for the success of students individually in the future, but for our success collectively as a society,” said Patrick Kelly, a 12th-grade government teacher in South Carolina and member of the National Assessment Governing Board, which sets policy for NAEP.

Kelly said the results partly reflect the way that social studies instruction has been “in many ways marginalized,” particularly at the state level, where officials focus on accountability systems that measure progress only in reading and math.

Student test scores plunge during pandemic

There was no mention in the data compilation of recent battles nationally over what should be taught in the classroom, including issues that touch on race and racism.

 

But U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona did not ignore the issue. While linking poor performance to the “profound impact” of the pandemic, he objected to efforts by politicians to cut education funding or limit learning. “Banning history books and censoring educators from teaching these important subjects does our students a disservice and will move America in the wrong direction,” he said in a statement.

Martin West, an education professor at Harvard University who sits on NAEP’s governing board, emphasized the data does not point to reasons for the decline. “That said, I think it’s fair to speculate that ongoing debates over how to teach history may well be getting in the way of actually doing it,” he said.

West and others said that while the pandemic may have contributed to the lower scores, it clearly does not fully explain it. In U.S. history, scores began falling after 2014 and were down four points by 2018.

 

A majority of students had also taken a course in eighth grade mainly about U.S. history but that percentage ticked down from 72 percent to 68 percent. For civics, it was roughly 50 percent in 2018 and 2022.

The history and civics tests, given every four years, were taken in January to March of 2022 by a nationally representative group of 15,800 students from 410 public and private schools across the country. They were administered by the National Center for Education Statistics, part of the U.S. Department of Education.

The decline was not as stunning as math and reading data released in September. Math scores among 9-year-olds fell seven points from 2020 to 2022, in a first-ever decline, while reading scores slipped five points, the largest dip in 30 years. Test scores released in October were similarly stark.

The crisis in American girlhood

The eighth-graders tested in U.S. history and civics were from the same population of students whose math and reading scores set off wide concern.

 

In 2018, 15 percent of students who reached or exceeded proficiency in U.S. history, compared to last year’s 13 percent. In civics, it was 24 percent in 2018, falling to 22 percent last year.

Beverly Perdue, the board’s chair and former governor of North Carolina, said she found the low scores “disturbing” and believed the pandemic played a role. Still, she added, “that can’t become the scapegoat for the fact that our students are not achieving at grade level.”

Some focused on longtime inattention to history and civics.

Chester E. Finn Jr., president emeritus of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a conservative think tank, ticked off what he sees as contributing factors to low scores: poor state standards, poorly trained teachers, limited instructional time, spotty and uneven curriculums and the lack of an accountability system.

“The ideal takeaway is: ‘This is one of these Sputnik moments that says we’ve got to say the schools aren’t doing their part to prepare American citizens,’” he said. “This should be an alarm bell, a call to do something different.”