American eighth-graders posted their highest-ever U.S. history scores on a national exam, but only 17 percent scored at or above the proficiency level, according to results released Tuesday.
The performance on the 2010 National Assessment of Educational Progress -- billed as "The Nation's Report Card" -- revealed continued large gaps in knowledge of U.S. history, especially among high-schoolers.
Over half of 12th-graders scored below "basic" achievement level.
Scores of fourth- and eighth-graders -- the two other grades tested -- moved up, but most of the gains were achieved by historically low-achieving groups.
Blacks and Hispanics in fourth-grade registered the largest improvement: up 22 points and 23 points respectively since 1994.
Even while posting their highest overall scores, eighth-graders struggled with basic historical concepts.
The 17 percent who scored at or above "proficiency" were able to identify a domestic impact of war. The 1 percent who scored at the "advanced" level could explain the differences between plantations and small farms in the antebellum South.
Despite the large majorities flubbing what NAEP called "seemingly easy" questions, governing board chairman P. Driscoll said, "We are encouraged by the progress of our fourth- and eighth-graders, particularly by the gains being made by students who traditionally have been among the lowest performers.
"We need to bring even more of these students up to 'proficient' level, and we want to see more progress overall by our 12th-graders, who will soon be active citizens."
The nationwide test was taken by 7,000 fourth-graders, 11,800 eighth-graders and 12,400 high-school seniors.
On a 500-point scale, fourth-graders averaged 214, up 9 points from 1994; eighth-graders averaged 266, up 7 points; and 12th-graders averaged 288, a gain of just 2 points.
In contrast to those modest gains, per-pupil spending in U.S. public schools jumped dramatically during that 16-year period, fueled in part by class-size reduction initiatives that led to a disproportionately enlarged teaching force.
Some Florida students took the 2010 NAEP history exam, but the state Department of Education said no state-by-state breakdown of scores is available for even-numbered years.
Diane Ravitch, a former U.S. assistant secretary of education and a member of NAEP's governing board, said she found "less reason for joy" after delving deeper into the modest gains nationally.
"When fourth-grade students were asked to identify a photograph of Abraham Lincoln and give two reasons why he was important in American history, only 9 percent were able to do so.
"I suspect that many children recognized Lincoln but were not too sure about why he was important," she said.
Ravitch, a professor of education at New York University, also shared Driscoll's particular concern about high-school seniors.
"It should concern us all that 12th-graders' knowledge of history has barely changed since 2001. This is found across almost every group that was sampled.
"It's worth noting that of the seven subjects tested by NAEP, history has the smallest proportion of students who score 'proficient.'"
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