According to a recent report:
U.S. eighth graders saw score declines in civics and U.S. history on the latest Nation’s Report Card (also called the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP), another reminder that the nation urgently needs to turn its attention to learning at the secondary level.
The average score on the 2022 civics assessment declined by 2 points since students last took the test in 2018, the first decline since the assessment began in 1998. Only 22 percent of eighth-graders scored at or above the NAEP Proficient level in civics.
The average score dropped 5 points on the NAEP U.S. history assessment between 2018 and 2022. The decrease continues a trend of declining scores that began in 2014. Just 13 percent of eighth-grade students scored at or above the NAEP Proficient level in U.S. history. [emphasis added]
While NAEP Proficient remains the goal for students, nearly one-third of eighth graders are performing below NAEP Basic in civics, meaning they likely cannot describe the structure and function of government. In U.S. history, 40 percent of eighth graders performed below NAEP Basic, meaning they likely cannot identify simple historical concepts in primary or secondary sources.