Students Gain Only Marginally on Test of U.S. History

New York Times, May 17, 2007

(excerpt) Federal officials reported yesterday that students in 4th, 8th and 12th grades had scored modestly higher on an American history test than five years earlier, although more than half of high school seniors still showed poor command of basic facts like the effect of the cotton gin on the slave economy or the causes of the Korean War.

Federal officials said they considered the results encouraging because at each level tested, student performance had improved since the last time the exam was administered, in 2001.

“In U.S. history there were higher scores in 2006 for all three grades,” said Mark Schneider, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, which administers the test, at a Boston news conference that the Education Department carried by Webcast.

The results were less encouraging on a national civics test, on which only fourth graders made any progress.

The best results in the history test were also in fourth grade, where 70 percent of students attained the basic level of achievement or better.

The test results in the two subjects are likely to be closely studied, because Congress is considering the renewal of President Bush’s signature education law, the No Child Left Behind Act.