May 4, 2024 – American youth aren’t making the grade in civics or history following a trend of declining achievement in math and reading, according to recent data from the largest assessment of student aptitude.
Online learning platform Study.com used data from The Nation’s Report Card to explore declining test scores for history and civics subjects in the U.S.
In 2022, The Nation’s Report Card found that the average eighth-grade U.S. history score decreased by nine points compared to 2014 and five points compared to 2018. The average civics score backslid two points from 2018—marking the first instance in the assessment’s history.
Statistically, only 13% of eighth graders performed at or above the proficient level in U.S. history and only 22% in civics, per the report.
Lower test scores are part of a global trend, partially due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but education experts say there are additional reasons for the civics and history slide.
Civics students learn theory, politics, and the practical study of citizenship and government, focusing on the present and future. History studies the past and how people interacted with one another.
Since the 1900s, the decline of “churches and other religious congregations, unions, metropolitan daily newspapers, and political parties as vehicles for grassroots participation that are sustained beyond specific campaigns” is to blame for the weakening of civic knowledge and interest in the U.S., according to a 2017 report published by the National Conference on Citizenship.
The report also found that 3 in 5 rural youth and almost 1 in 3 suburban and urban young people in America see their communities as civic deserts, or lacking places to meet and discuss ideas.