The test to become a U.S. citizen is notoriously difficult, and those who were born citizens receive notoriously poor scores.
That was clear in a recent national survey that administered the test to natural-born citizens. At first glance, seeing that Wyoming ranked second nationally for the number of people who passed the multiple-choice test would call for celebration, but looking closer, only 49 percent of the state actually passed.
With 51 percent of Wyoming’s population failing the test and even higher percentages failing in the rest of the 48 states, are schools sufficiently teaching students about American government and history?
“American history education is not working,” said Arthur Levine, the president of the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, which funded the study, in a release. “Based on our research, this is not an issue of whether high school history teachers are adequately prepared or whether kids study American history in school. The answer to both questions is yes. This is an issue of how we teach American history.”
Though people born in the U.S. are granted citizenship without having to take the test, as those born outside the country must, Levine said learning about the country’s government and history still has a purpose.
“Knowledge of American history must serve as an anchor in a time when change assails us, a laboratory for studying the changes that are occurring and a vehicle for establishing a common bond when social divisions are deep,” he said.
Making the topic of government interesting and fun to learn is a challenge. Kennedy Penn-O’Toole, assistant lecturer for the Political Science Department, believes that changing education curriculums for students learning about American government is not as easy as it sounds.
“People take government in high school and they take a class in college, and people still don’t know a lot of information,” said Penn-O’Toole. “It makes sense because if you think about the time you spend learning about political stuff, it’s time you could spend doing something else.”
The time it takes to stay up to date on political happenings and workings of the government come at the cost of more enjoyable activities, Penn-O’Toole said. Most people opt to read a new book or take their dog for a walk instead of delving into the history of the U.S. government.
“I don’t think [the results] are at all surprising. There are always kind of surveys like this. They find the same kind of information year in and year out,” said Penn-O’Toole.
Considering the results, however, she did think it’s notable Wyoming scored second place, right behind Vermont. She didn’t think that requiring more government classes would be a realistic thing to ask of students, though, because students will only get out of it what they put into it.
People tend to be more interested in issues like legalizing pot or criminalizing abortion, Penn-O’Toole say, “but you really have to have the basics of what Congress is before you can really talk about issues and how they’re being affected….It’s not the most glamorous topic, especially when you’re just starting out.”
Though government is a dry topic for many, Penn-O’Toole hopes that students still can get something out of the class.
“My hope is that [students will] leave my class understanding their role as a citizen a little bit better and feeling like ‘This wasn’t a total waste of my time!’” said Penn-O’Toole.
Some citizenship test questions like “When is Independence Day?” or “How many amendments are there?” are actually easier than assignments in college-level government class, such as UW’s POLS 1000 to fulfill the American and Wyoming government requirement.
More information about the study and the citizenship survey is available at Woodrow.org/news/one-state-pass-us-citizenship-exam/.
