Scores in U.S. history and civics for eighth-graders are down across the U.S., according to recent results from the assessment known as the "Nation's Report Card." This year's history scores are the lowest recorded since the assessment began in 1994, and the new data mark the first-ever drop in civics.
U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a statement that the results, from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, further underscore the "profound impact the pandemic had on student learning."
The results follow recent national declines in reading and math among students in grades four and eight.
NAEP assesses history and civics proficiency for eighth grade students in a nationally representative sampling given every four years. The results released today, from exams taken by students in 2022, mark the first to include the pandemic years.
The history test assesses students in different categories, including democracy, culture, technology and world role of the U.S.. This year, there were declines in all those subject areas.
The scores in U.S. history declined five points, from 263 in 2018 to 258 in 2022, continuing a downward trend that began in 2014. Only 14% of students reached at or above "proficient" mark in history, and in civics only 22% of students met the same benchmark.
Kerry Sautner, the chief learning officer at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, said she has been bracing for these results since the reading and math results came out in the fall: "When we saw the reading scores drop, it kind of felt like, 'well, that's a little prelude to what you're going to see in civics and history.' "
She notes that the teaching of civics and history are heavily based on reading comprehension, and if that foundation isn't solid, it's hard to build up. Unfortunately, Sautner added, with the declines now evident across multiple subjects, the question becomes: "How are we going to mitigate this when we have significant drops in everything?"
Conservatives are likely to seize upon the latest results as further evidence for new approaches to traditional public schools, such as voucher programs or charter schools.
Secretary Cardona instead urged states to address the problems head-on, and alluded to the recent attacks on public schooling in the ongoing culture-war over education:
"Now is not the time for politicians to try to extract double-digit cuts to education funding," he said in a statement. "Nor is it the time to limit what students learn in U.S. history and civics classes."
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Transcript
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
The results from the assessment known as the Nation's Report Card are out today, and they show significant declines.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
The new numbers on how well students in this country are learning their history and civics aren't good.
FADEL: NPR's Sequoia Carrillo joins us now to walk us through the findings.
Good morning, Sequoia.
SEQUOIA CARRILLO, BYLINE: Good morning.
FADEL: OK, so let's get right to it. How bad are these numbers?
CARRILLO: So the scores are low. The history scores are the lowest recorded since the assessment began back in 1994. And this year marked the first-ever drop in civics scores. And this data comes from the National Assessment for Educational Progress, or NAEP. It's a test administered every four years to a representative sampling of eighth graders across the country.
For history, it has students look at different categories like democracy, culture, technology and world role. This year, there were declines in all subjects. In fact, only about 14% of students reached or exceeded the proficient mark in history. And in civics, only 22% of students met that same benchmark. Those are significant drops from the last time students were tested back in 2018.
FADEL: Wow. I mean, is this something we should have expected? What are the factors, maybe, that played a role here - pandemic?
CARRILLO: The pandemic definitely played a role. And this was just not a normal four years for students. But we already knew that. There was actually a bigger warning sign back in October when the counterpart to this assessment in math and reading came out. And yesterday when I was talking through these latest scores with experts, they said the dips in reading and math from the fall gave a big indication of what was to come here.
And it makes sense if you think about it. If kids are already struggling with reading, then when you test them on documents like the Federalist Papers or a section of the Constitution, they're going to have trouble with it. Teaching history is built on the foundation of reading comprehension. So as one goes down, so goes the other. But in this case, it just dropped more than expected.
FADEL: What about civics?
CARRILLO: This subject was harder to predict. There's been some research that when there's a high-profile election, civics scores can go up because there are lessons in government and democracy. So they're not just learning about it in the classroom, but they're also seeing it happen around them in real life. So there was some hope that these civics scores would hold or even go up with the 2020 election and, of course, the high-profile midterms last year. But they did not. They actually dipped for the first time.
FADEL: So a lot of struggling students out there, if there are declines in reading and math and now history and civics. What's a path forward for these students? What are educators going to do?
CARRILLO: I talked with Kerry Sautner from the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia about exactly this. She's an educator in civics and history and says the subjects are very intertwined. But like I said before, so is reading - so are many subjects. So what do we do when we have significant drops in everything? And here's what she told me.
KERRY SAUTNER: In all reality, we need to make sure our kids are engaged citizens, and that means they need to be informed with the knowledge and the skills to do this work. And that takes every class.
CARRILLO: Meaning not just pouring more resources into reading and math, but working to improve schools across the curriculum. And at a time when there are huge concerns about what Americans know of their history and how their government works...
FADEL: Yeah.
CARRILLO: ...This issue couldn't be more vital.
FADEL: NPR's Sequoia Carrillo. Thank you so much.
CARRILLO: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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