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Thursday, May 4th, 2023

U.S. history scores hit all-time low among 8th graders

Author:     Erin Doherty
Source:     Axios
Publication Date:     3 May 2023
 Link: U.S. history scores hit all-time low among 8th graders
Stephan:  

I consider this a very alarming story because the way I read it what it is saying is that we have gutted public education so badly that our children no longer know the history of their own country. This leaves them, particularly in the Red states, blank slates upon which the MAGAt world view of hate, racism, and resentment can be indoctrinated.

Illustration: Natalie Peeples/Axios

U.S. history scores among the nation’s eighth graders plummeted in 2022, new assessment results known as the Nation’s Report Card show.

The big picture: The history scores, which are the lowest ever recorded since the assessment began in 1994, plus civics scores seeing their first-ever decline underscore the pandemic’s prolonged effects on students.

  • History scores on the NAEP assessment have been trending down since 2014, but the pandemic had a “profound impact” on student learning, U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a statement.

Driving the news: The results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) released Wednesday show that about 40% of eighth graders scored below the basic level in U.S. history in 2022, compared to 34% in 2018.

  • Just 13% of students performed at or above the “proficient” level in U.S. history.
  • Eighth graders’ average civic scores decreased by 2-points compared to 2018, the NAEP results show. They’re comparable to results from 1998, which is the first assessment year for civics under the current framework.
  • The civics assessment tests knowledge of aspects of […]
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