Most Students Lack Civics Proficiency on NAEP

Many high school seniors may be old enough to vote, but just one-quarter of them demonstrate at least a “proficient” level of civics knowledge and skills, based on the latest results from a prominent national exam.

That statistic, 24 percent, represents a slight dip from the proportion of 12th graders scoring proficient or “advanced” in the subject four years earlier.

Meanwhile, the average 4th grade score rose in the latest administration of the National Assessment of Educational Progress, compared with both 2006 and 1998, the first time “the nation’s report card” in civics was given. Twenty-seven percent were proficient or better in 2010, compared with 24 percent in 2006, according to the NAEP data ...