A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

                                
   FOR RELEASE                                Contact:  David Thomas
   November 1, 1995                                   (202) 401-1579

U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley said, "It's a tough test -- much more rigorous than what most students are used to seeing in school -- requiring greater historical knowledge, more writing and application of analytical skills."

Riley was commenting on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 1994 U.S. History: A First Look, which reports on the knowledge and skills of 4th, 8th and 12th graders. The release marks the first time this new test has been given to students.

The new test used essential historical events, documents, photographs and maps and required students not only to demonstrate knowledge of facts, events and people, but also to display reasoning ability and an understanding and appreciation of history.

About 60 percent of the test was devoted to performance items. For example, one of the essay questions for 4th graders asks students to choose one of four famous places where an important event in American history occurred -- the Alamo, Pearl Harbor, Gettysburg or Roanoke Island -- and explain why they would teach their classmates about that place.

In other questions, 8th or 12th grade students are asked why the Great Awakening of the 1730s was important, the purpose of the Monroe Doctrine, the longterm effects of the 14th Amendment, or why many leaders in Great Britain leaned toward supporting the Confederacy in the Civil War.

Riley said the grading was tough, too. "The performance standard on this history test is more than 20 points harder than other NAEP tests conducted in '94." The assessments use a 0-500 point scale with achievement ranges that correspond to basic, proficient or advanced. For example, at the 12th grade level, a score of 294 was required to reach the basic level of history achievement. In the 1994 NAEP geography report, a score of 270 was sufficient to reach the basic level.

The history test indicates that more than 60 percent of 4th and 8th graders scored at or above the "basic" level, demonstrating partial mastery of the subject. Forty-three percent of the 12th graders scored at or above the basic level.

"It's clear, as the song says, students don't know much about history," Riley said, citing low achievement by both public and private school students. "We need to encourage every school to adopt the kind of challenging standards that will provide tomorrow's citizens with the best possible understanding of the world they inherit."

But Riley said consensus is difficult. "History is not as clear cut as math or science. Choices must be made. What should every American know about our collective past? This test says when measured against high standards, our children don't know enough -- and that's probably right."

The data released today, by the department's National Center for Education Statistics, are initial findings. A larger 1994 NAEP history report, with additional material on home and school factors that may contribute to academic achievement, will be released early next year.

According to findings, 8th graders in the Northeast and Central regions produced higher average scores than those in the West and Southwest. Twelfth-graders in the Southeast had lower average scores than those in the Northeast and Central regions. And 4th grade students in the Central region scored on average higher than those in the other three regions.

Other findings include:

• 17 percent of 4th graders, 14 percent of 8th graders, and 11 percent of 12th graders reached the proficient level; across all grades, 1 to 2 percent reached the advanced level;

• at 12th grade, males scored higher than females; no differences between males and females in average scores were evident at 4th and 8th grades; and,

• across all grades, White and Asian students had significantly higher average scores that did Black and Hispanic students.

The assessment, based on a new framework developed by historians and educators from around the country, focused on several themes:

• Change and Continuity in American Democracy: Ideas, Institutions, Practices, and Controversies;

• The Gathering and Interaction of Peoples, Cultures, and Ideas;

• Economic and Technological Changes and Their Relation to Society, Ideas, and the Environment;

• The Changing Role of America in the World.

Specifically, the test covered: Three Worlds and Their Meeting in the Americas (Beginnings to 1607); Colonization, Settlement, and Communities (1607-1763); The Revolution and the New Nation (1763-1815); Expansion and Reform (1801-1861); Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877); Development of Modern America (1865-1920); Modern America and the World Wars (1914-1945); and Contemporary America (1945-present).

Approximately 22,500 students participated in the 1994 U.S. history assessment.

Known as the Nation's Report Card, NAEP has monitored trends in academic achievement since 1969 and is the only continuing, nationally representative assessment of academic performance. Single copies of the U.S. history report are available (while supplies last) from the National Library of Education at 1-800-424-1616.