Should the U.S. have a national civics exam?
& do Americans know enough about our system of government?
Do Americans know enough about our system of government?
A 2022 poll found that just 47% of Americans could name all three branches of government.
For the past six months, I’ve been teaching American Government classes at Miami-Dade College in Florida.
One of my main responsibilities in these classes is helping students prepare for something called the Florida Civics Literacy Exam (FCLE).
The test is based on the U.S. Citizenship Test that immigrants to the U.S. must pass to naturalize as American citizens.
Why do students have to take the FCLE?
A few years ago, the Florida state government passed a law requiring all students studying at public colleges in Florida to pass a civics test in order to graduate.
The term “civics” refers to the fundamental knowledge that a self-governing group of citizens needs to know.
Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, explained why she founded the civics education group iCivics in a 2012 interview:
“We have a complex system of government. You have to teach it to every generation. We want [young people] to continue to be part of it. We need ’em more than ever.”
To pass the FCLE, students must correctly answer 48 of 80 (60%) multiple-choice questions.
The exam covers:
the structure of America’s government
key ideas like the separation of powers & federalism
important amendments, Supreme Court decisions, & pieces of legislation
general knowledge of American history
the philosophical foundations of American government
The test is challenging.
I’ll include a few sample questions from a sample exam throughout the rest of the newsletter.
Other states, like Arkansas, require students to pass a similar civics exam to graduate from high school.
Students at public high schools in Florida are now required to take the FCLE as well.
If they pass, they don’t need to take the exam in college.
But only 37% of the high school students passed the test in the first year it was implemented, meaning that the majority of them would ultimately need to re-take it to graduate from college.
Over the past few months, I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about the test.
It’s difficult, even those who took social studies classes at a U.S. high school.
But I’ve also had multiple students who were born & educated outside the U.S. who passed the exam.
And they really came to appreciate the importance of the subject matter and the value of understanding America’s system of government.
So, I’ve gotten an idea in my head: what if this test was required not just in Florida, but at public colleges around the country?
Next year will be the United States’ 250th anniversary.
Creating a national civics exam that public university students must pass could be something that members of both political parties could get behind.
So… What do you think? I am writing an article about this topic, so I’m looking for feedback:
Do you think it’s a good idea?
What possible criticisms of it can you think of?
Could something like this help to bring our country together?
Feel free to comment on this post with any and all thoughts on the matter.
I’ll conclude with a quote from Eleanor Roosevelt that I share with my students on the first day of class:
“Our children should learn the general framework of their government and then they should know where they come in contact with the government, where it touches their daily lives and where their influence is exerted on the government.
It must not be a distant thing, someone else’s business, but they must see how every cog in the wheel of a democracy is important and bears its share of responsibility for the smooth running of the entire machine.”
ART OF THE DAY
Big time YES!
I often hear “we need civics education.” First, if I’m reading your map right, we have it. Second, it shouldn’t be one and done. Like anything, you need to keep up.