High School Students’ Civics Knowledge Waning
Three out of 4 U.S. students lack a basic understanding of democracy, of how the U.S. political system works and what it means to be a citizen of this country, according to national test scores released Wednesday.
That equals a failing grade in civics.
Fewer than half the country’s eighth-graders were able to identify the purpose of the Bill of Rights on the 2010 National Assessment of Educational Progress. Most high school seniors couldn’t identify a power granted to Congress by the Constitution or define the term “melting pot.” Relatively few fourth-graders understood the concept of majority rule, as expected for their grade level.
The findings came from the national test, given every four years to thousands of the nation’s fourth-, eighth- and 12th-graders.
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