12th Grade Citizenship Test

Passing a US citizenship test should become a mandatory part of the standardized curriculum for 12th grade students.

This would ensure a more uniform understanding of the basic structure of US civics and would, by necessity, require students to study civics/US History in a more substantial way than is currently required.

This would only serve as an educational element and would not address any separate discussions around the pros/cons of birth-right citizenship.

For consideration, here are some of the topics handled in the civics section of the naturalization test:

AMERICAN GOVERNMENT

  • Principles of American Democracy
  • System of Government
  • Rights and Responsibilities

AMERICAN HISTORY

  • Colonial Period and Independence
  • 1800s
  • Recent American History and Other Important Historical Information

INTEGRATED CIVICS

  • Geography
  • Symbols
  • Holidays
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When you say test, I assume you’re referring to something standardized. The problem with that is standardized testing tells us very little about most of the population. Being a good test-taker doesn’t reflect whether someone truly embodies the principles being taught.