For Constitution Day (Septemeber 17th) my classroom took a test. You may think that a cruel way to celebrate a federally mandated holiday, but I thought it was perfect. The test they took was the July 2008 assessment for US citizenship.
Of the 30 (out of 100) questions posed to my students, the highest score was 22. And they were highest by a long shot. Most students answered 10 or fewer questions correctly. Statistics came out recently stating that most students would receive an F on an American civics examination, and after my students deplorable performance on this test, I understand why.
My teacher elected to do this test because my school has a high percentage of immigrant families and many of the students, their parents, and/or grandparents had to take this test to gain citizenship. Not surprisingly, our non-native students scored highest.
Though naturalized citizens do not have to take this assessment to maintain their citizenship, that is not an excuse for them not to know this information. In my mind, all students should be able to at least vaguely summarize main events in US history and describe key elements of the US government and the democratic values we represent.
Civics is a subject by definition for all citizens and naturalized citizens should not be an exception.
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