PHOENIX – Arizona’s new law requiring high school students to pass the U.S. citizenship test in order to graduate appears likely to be adopted in a handful of other states this year, though educators warn it’s not a fix-all solution to the nation’s dire knowledge of civics.
Fewer than a dozen states currently require students to take a civics exam, and passing it isn’t necessary to graduate in all of them. In most states, civic education instead revolves around a one-semester U.S. history course.
Arizona last week became the first to specifically require the U.S. citizenship test, a 100-question exam that tests knowledge of facts about subjects such as the Founding Fathers, the Bill of Rights and U.S. presidents.
“This has been building for a long time,” said Ted McConnell, executive director of the Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools, a civic-learning coalition co-led by former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. McConnell said he and others are wary that legislators are skimming only the surface of what students need to know.
“The folks who are civic educators and experts by and large are pushing for a much, much more well-rounded approach,” said Paul Baumann, director of the National Center for Learning and Civic Engagement at the Education Commission of the States, a state-led research organization.
For years, education leaders have sounded the alarm on the state of civic education.
Just 13 percent of high school seniors scored as “proficient” or higher in American history on the 2010 National Assessment of Educational Progress. Voter participation in the most recent midterm elections was the lowest in decades, and even entertainers such as Jay Leno have tapped into the nation’s weak civic knowledge with laughable pop-quiz history tests.
The Arizona-based Joe Foss Institute has set a goal of having all 50 states adopt the U.S. citizenship requirement for high school students by 2017, the 230th anniversary of the U.S. Constitution. The institute says legislatures in 15 states are expected to consider it this year. The North Dakota House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved the same measure last week, but Arizona’s proposal was the first to become law.
The Foss Institute promotes the test to state legislatures as a way to increase knowledge of basic government by students. The leader of the organization is former California U.S. Rep. Frank Riggs, who came in last in Arizona’s Republican primary for governor after running a hard-right campaign focused on immigration and rhetoric against President Barack Obama.
The Arizona law requires high school students to correctly answer 60 of 100 questions on the civics portion of the test for those aspiring to become U.S. citizens. Passing is required to earn a high school or GED diploma starting in the 2016-17 school year.
Utah, South Dakota, Tennessee and other states already have bills presented or about to be introduced.
McConnell said he believes the Foss institute’s projection that more than a dozen states will pass the requirement this year is accurate. Yet he and others who have been pushing for improved civic education sum up the effort like this: “Right problem, wrong solution.”
“The leaders in the civics education field I’ve spoken about this with are generally concerned that this exam does not capture the full breadth and scope of the competencies and outcomes we’re looking for students to develop,” Baumann said.
Baumann said states that do have a civics exam – other than Arizona – test knowledge that the U.S. citizenship exam does not: Valuing equality before the law, the purpose of democratic government, and good citizenship practices.
The citizenship exam, by contrast, only requires “very basic knowledge of U.S. government,” he said.
“We fear this test would take away the precious little time awarded for civic education now and drive instruction toward dry, rote memorization of facts that would quickly be forgotten,” McConnell said.
O’Connor, the co-leader of McConnell’s group, initially supported the Foss Institute’s work but did not back the U.S. citizenship test requirement bill; judicial work precluded her from being involved in any legislative initiative. It was unclear whether she favored the test as a component of civic education.
The U.S. citizenship test requirement also comes amid a larger debate over concerns that testing required under No Child Left Behind and other laws has resulted in a narrowing of the curriculum – taking away time from instruction in topics such as civics. One Center for Education Policy study found that 27 percent of districts surveyed reported reducing time on social studies either somewhat or to a great extent.
How much do you know?
Starting with the class of 2017, Arizona students will be required to pass the U.S. citizenship test on civics before they can graduate.
The new legislation, signed Thursday by Gov. Doug Ducey, is part of the primarily conservative Civics Education Initiative, whose goal is to get all 50 states to adopt the requirement in the next two years. About 15 states are expected to consider the measure this year.
The test’s overall goal is to increase students’ knowledge of basic government.
Here is a sampling of the multiple-choice questions, with answers in parentheses:
How many amendments does the Constitution have? 12, (27), 35 or 42.
We elect a U.S. Senator for how many years? 4, 8, (6) or 10.
We elect a president for how many years? (4), 12, 8 or 5.
What is the name of the president of the United States now (Obama), Ford, Clinton or Bush.
If the president can no longer serve, who becomes president? Chief of staff, (the vice president), secretary of state, lead general.
What do we call the first 10 amendments to the constitution? (The Bill of Rights), the Ten Commandments, the Bill of Lading or the List of Ten.
Which is a right or freedom from the First Amendment? Right to vote, right to avoid taxes, (right to free exercise of religion) and right to bear arms.
What was the purpose of the Declaration of Independence? Formed an alliance with South America, (announced our independence from Great Britain), announced our independence from Germany or freed the slaves.
What is one purpose of the U.S. Constitution? Declared war, defines state laws, (protects the basic rights of Americans) or establishes treaties.
Before he was president, Eisenhower was a general. What war was he in? (World War II), World War I, Civil War.
Name one state that borders Canada. California, (Idaho), Ohio or Massachusetts.
Associated Press
