13% of 8th Graders Are Proficient in US History! 20% in Civics! Is the USA Citizenry & Democracy in Jeopardy? Were the Tests too Hard? Random? Too Much Reading? Can You Answer the Sample Questions?

The Best Paragraph I've Read: In the first release of U.S. history and civics scores since the start of the pandemic, the National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the Nation’s Report Card, showed a decline in students’ knowledge that reversed gains made since the 1990s. According to the data, 13% of eighth-graders met proficiency standards for U.S. history, meaning they could explain major themes, periods, events, people, ideas and turning points in the country’s history. About a fifth of students scored at or above the proficient level in civics. This paragraph comes from the Wall Street Journal in an article titled: "Eighth-Graders History, Civics Test Scores Hit Record Low." The article is written by Ben Chapman. You can read the full article here: https://www.wsj.com/articles/american-eighth-graders-dont-know-much-about-history-test-scores-show-56ef367c Zac and Don discuss America's low History and Civics test scores. They wonder if the test is flawed and if students had the right incentives. They also wonder if you can still be a good American citizen even if you failed the test. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bestparagraph/message