Abstract:
A 2001 U.S. history test that's part of what's known informally as the "Nation's Report Card" found that fewer than 15% of fourth-, eighth- and 12th-graders were "proficient" in history, which officials say should be the goal for all students. The data also showed that American students are weaker in history than in math, reading or science, the other subjects tested.

Nearly two-thirds of fourth-graders and a slightly smaller percentage of eighth-graders possess at least a "basic" knowledge of history, which is a slight improvement from 1994, when the national history test was last conducted. But only 43% of American high school seniors could demonstrate even a "basic" knowledge level, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

Less than half of high school seniors (48%) knew that the Soviet Union was a U.S. ally in World War II.

Full Text:
(Copyright, The Times Mirror Company; Los Angeles Times 2002 Allrights reserved)

The nation's high school seniors are all but clueless when it comes to understanding essential truths about America's past, according to test results released Thursday.

To many of them, the Boston Tea Party, the Civil War and World War II are dimly understood events from a foggy past.

And that is particularly worrisome in a post-Sept. 11 climate as Americans are being forced to defend their values and country, educators said.

A 2001 U.S. history test that's part of what's known informally as the "Nation's Report Card" found that fewer than 15% of fourth-, eighth- and 12th-graders were "proficient" in history, which officials say should be the goal for all students. The data also showed that American students are weaker in history than in math, reading or science, the other subjects tested.

Nearly two-thirds of fourth-graders and a slightly smaller percentage of eighth-graders possess at least a "basic" knowledge of history, which is a slight improvement from 1994, when the national history test was last conducted. But only 43% of American high school seniors could demonstrate even a "basic" knowledge level, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

Shown a depiction of the Boston Tea Party, only 35% of fourth- graders knew that it led to the American Revolution and only 51% of fourth-graders were aware that differing views about slavery in the South and the North was a cause of the Civil War.

The motivation of the nation's founders in adding the Bill of Rights to the Constitution (fear that the new government would deny civil liberties) was correctly identified by only 54% of eighth- graders.

Less than half of high school seniors (48%) knew that the Soviet Union was a U.S. ally in World War II.

"Our ability to defend--intelligently and thoughtfully--what we as a nation hold dear depends on our knowledge and understanding of what we hold dear," said Diane Ravitch, a prominent historian and a member of the NAEP advisory board. "That can only be achieved through learning the history we share, and clearly far too many high school seniors have not learned even a modest part of it."

U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige said the questions that "stumped so many students involve the most fundamental concepts of our democracy, our growth as a nation and our role in the world."

The test was given to a nationally representative sample of 29,000 students in the three grades.

Educators blamed many factors for the weak showing. Some said the nation's focus on raising test scores in reading and math has led many elementary school teachers to give short shrift to history. Others said that many teachers' own knowledge of history is weak and that few resources are devoted to professional development. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 54% of high school history teachers neither majored nor minored in history in college. That's the highest percentage of teachers teaching beyond their expertise of any subject except physics.

Ruben Zepeda, a Van Nuys teacher who won a $1-million federal grant to improve history instruction in Los Angeles, said the poor test scores reflect the "low priority" it gets from policymakers.

Since freshmen show up without a foundation in history, high school teachers have to start from scratch. "School districts, administrators and education reformers have placed such a great emphasis on English language arts and math it seems that's the only thing they care about," Zepeda said. The history test was designed to measure students' understanding of the broad themes that have shaped the nation rather than specific names or dates. The fact that many students graduate from high school unable to do either is obvious to college professors saddled with teaching beginning courses.

But UCLA history professor Gary B. Nash questioned the validity of the NAEP test. He noted that biographies of such Revolutionary War figures as John and Abigail Adams are bestsellers, the History Channel is popular and 700,000 middle- and high-school students a year complete in-depth research projects for National History Day.

"Kids are absorbing an awful lot more, the textbooks are better and they're teaching at a higher level than when I was in high school 50 years ago," Nash said.

Still, he said, "I'm not sure we should even expect 18-year-olds to remember dates and facts and names and places if there's no practical use for that knowledge."