Articles

History, civics scores improve for fourth-graders

Public Agenda Alert
May 17, 2007

Fourth graders are showing improvements in history and civics tests, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress. But while history scores improved for eighth- and 12th-graders, civics scores did not.

Several Public Agenda surveys have examined public attitudes about how the schools should handle history, civics and the Constitution. There's no question that the public considers this important knowledge -- even when they admit to having a hazy understanding themselves.

Students themselves consider this an important issue, but not the top priority. In 2006, our Reality Check surveys found that half of high school students (49 percent) consider it "absolutely essential" to "understand current events and how our government works" for success in the real world. But that ranked well below skills like knowing the rules of grammar and spelling (69 percent) or how to manage money (68 percent).

Two-thirds of the general public said it was "absolutely essential" for Americans to have a detailed knowledge of their civil rights in our 2002 survey on the Constitution, "Knowing It By Heart." But the same number of adults admitted they were only "generally familiar" with the Constitution.

There are also ferocious debates over how we should teach history to our children. In several Public Agenda surveys, we've found a clear-eyed patriotism among parents and the public. Americans believe the U.S. is a special place, but also believe it has flaws. They want the schools to face those faults but not to dwell on them. In "Knowing it By Heart," some 90 percent said the schools should teach American history "warts and all."

But we also found the public giving schools mixed reviews for their approach to teaching the Constitution. Senior citizens seem to have had a more interesting learning experience as schoolchildren than their younger counterparts. Some 37 percent of those aged 18 to 29 said they were taught about the Constitution in a "dull and forgettable" way, compared to only 17 percent of those 65 and older.

Find out more in these Public Agenda research studies:

Reality Check 2006:
http://www.publicagenda.org/research/research_
reports_details.cfm?list=96

Knowing It By Heart: Americans Consider the Constitution and Its Meaning:
http://www.publicagenda.org/specials/constitution
/constitution.htm

A Lot to Be Thankful For: What Parents Want Children to Learn About America
http://www.publicagenda.org/research/research_
reports_details.cfm?list=40

Read the Associated Press story:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/EDUCATION/05/16/
history.and.civics.ap/index.html

Get the results from the "Nation's Report Card":
http://nces.ed.gov/whatsnew/commissioner/
remarks2007/5_16_2007.asp

Copyright 2007 Public Agenda. More information: www.publicagenda.org.

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