Widening gaps between low-and high-performing students “are really concerning,” said Emily Swafford, the director of academic and professional affairs at the American Historical Association. At least a third of the questions require that when writing in response to texts students must “be clear about their answers and justify their answers,” she noted. “These results are not designed to point to why this is also happening, but we clearly see a correlation here that’s disturbing.”ĭifferent groups of 8th graders took NAEP’s 8th grade reading and its civics, geography, and history tests, but Carr surmised that students who struggle to read would likely face an uphill fight with the social studies subjects. “The bottom of the distribution is dropping at a faster rate,” said Peggy Carr, the associate commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, which administers the NAEP. In 2019, NAEP’s 4th and 8th grade reading and math scores and the Program for International Student Assessment of 15-year-olds in the same subjects showed that the highest-achieving 10 percent of students held steady or improved, while the lowest 10 percent to 20 percent of students declined over the same time. The history and geography findings add to growing evidence of a broad-based widening of learning gaps between top performers and the most struggling students. “One factor that also is really disturbing for me is just the general low level of proficiency: Less than a quarter of our students are proficient or above proficient level in the three subject areas, and we’re talking only 15 percent in U.S. history and geography achievement in middle school. Tina Heafner, president of National Council of the Social Studies, said she was dismayed by the first decline in U.S. There was no significant change in civics. In geography, 29 percent fell below that mark compared to 25 percent in 2014. ![]() Thirty-four percent of students fell below the “basic” performance category in history, compared to 29 percent in 2014. The poor results were consistent across all racial and ethnic categories too, with the exception of students identifying as Asian or Pacific Islander.Īcross the three subjects, a quarter or more of students fell below the “basic” performance category, meaning they didn’t have even the fundamental prerequisite skills to master the content. In history, students scored lower on all four areas measured by the test-the evolution of American democracy culture economic and technical changes and America’s changing role in the world. The overall findings were distinctly subpar. Prior research has shown that switching to a new testing mode can depress scores, so NAEP officials used statistical methods to equate the digital results to prior years’ paper-and-pencil scores. (There are no state-by-state results for the three subjects as there are for math and reading.) It is also the first time these subjects have been assessed using digital devices as well as traditional paper-and-pencil forms. The history, civics, and geography exams were given in early 2018 to a national sample of nearly 43,000 8th graders. “I don’t know, but it’s all I can hope for.” A Consistent Pattern “Are we going to be able to focus on these integrative disciplines that have a great deal of connection with what’s happening right now and feel a great deal more relevant in people’s lives?” she asked. She also helps lead a coalition of some 90 groups supporting civics and history education. ![]() On the other hand, the temporary suspension of the reading and math tests many blame for focusing schools too narrowly on those subjects provides an opportunity to seize the moment, noted Louise Dubé, the executive director of curriculum provider iCivics. But the coronavirus pandemic has upended K-12 education, and it is unclear whether states will continue to pump the gas on those efforts. National concern about the quality of young people’s civic and historical preparation and knowledge of global events has been steadily growing over the last two years, with some states introducing new coursework and testing requirements.
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