This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Notre Dame chapter.
This is a question that the United States must face after the passing of the American Civics Act in Arizona last Thursday (1/15/15). Starting with the class of 2017, students in the state will be required to pass a civics test in order to graduate from high school. Arizona is the first state in the nation to institute this requirement.
In eighth grade, a student will be able to take the test, and if he/she does not pass, she/he will be able to take it several times throughout high school until a passing grade is achieved. The test itself is similar to the test given during the naturalization process, and like the citizenship test, a student must answer at least 60% of the questions correctly to graduate. Unlike the citizenship test, which is an oral quiz of ten questions, students will take a written, multiple choice test composed of one hundred questions.
Arizona’s Governor Doug Ducey enthusiastically endorsed the new law. He wanted the American Civics Act to be the first bill to reach his desk after taking office. In his state address, he said, referencing the legislation, “Send it to my desk, I’ll sign it immediately.” Despite this warm welcome, the new act soon became a subject for debate. Members of the American public have either embraced it like the Arizona state government or vehemently rejected it. This debate has grown increasingly relevant to the nation because of the possibility of the test’s application outside of Arizona. North Dakota has already followed Arizona’s example, and eighteen states are considering passing similar legislation.
Those in favor of the test are concerned about the lack of civic knowledge in current American citizens. Recent surveys show that only one third of Americans can name the three branches of government, and a quarter of Americans don’t know from which country the U.S.A. gained independence. By requiring high school students to pass a civics test before receiving their diplomas, future adult citizens will be more educated in the government, documents and ideasintegral to America. Gained knowledge isn’t considered the ultimate goal of the test, however. The more knowledgeable Americans are about the workings of the country, the more active roles in civics they can take, helping to make the America a better place.
The Joe Foss Institute is the biggest proponent of the civics test as a high school graduation prerequisite. A private, non-profit organization, the Institute’s mission is to support and improve American teachers’ efforts to educate students in civics, government and American history. Its main objective is to get every state to adopt a high school civics test by 2017. The Institute cites the education system’s emphasis on hard sciences, math and reading as the source of decline in history and civics education. It believes that the American Civics Act will fill the gap in American education and produce future leaders of the nation.
Several concerns contribute to the opposition to Arizona’s new legislation. First, the civics test is mainly supported by the Joe Foss Institute; the test isn’t fully under local control. Some proponents for non-adoption of the test argue that local government should directly control what affects its area or jurisdiction. Second, some Arizona teachers take offense to the American Civics Act, believing that their authority as teachers is being encroached upon and undermined by the new law. They feel that the government and the Joe Foss Institute is micromanaging and claiming that they can do the teachers’ jobs better than they can.
The main objection to the new law is that the civics test might not encourage a genuine interest in civic duty or American government. A multiple choice test only requires rote memorization of facts, easily forgotten after the test has been passed. According to this objection, the civic test will not create active participants interested in government, only students with another step to overcome before receiving diplomas.
In addition, the Arizona government has not specified how civics or test preparation should be taught. This could lead to minimal effort by schools to teach civics, only covering material for the test and not allowing students the chance to apply civics to their lives or to learn why civic duty is important in America. As Joe Thomas, a high school government teacher from Mesa, Arizona, stated, “The interest is promoting civics and we want to see students engaged… I don’t know if a test engages students.”