Presented By

America’s eighth-graders are failing tests in U.S. history, a national study says.

Only 18% of eighth-graders rated proficient or above in U.S. history, just 27% rated proficient or above in geography and 23% in civics, according to the Nation’s Report Card 2014, a federal survey of more than 29,000 eighth-graders published Wednesday.

“The lack of knowledge on the part of America’s students is unacceptable, and the lack of growth must be addressed. As a country, we must do better,” said Terry Mazany, chairman of the National Assessment Governing Board, which oversees the survey.

Here’s a breakdown of how eighth-graders performed across the three subjects:

Here are a couple of sample questions from the U.S. history section, the area of the test where eighth-graders are least proficient.

Eighth-graders who scored in the basic category were likely to answer the following sample question correctly:

Here’s one that’s a little harder. Eighth-graders who scored in the advanced category were likely to answer the following sample question correctly:

See the full report—including other sample questions—here.

More Must-Reads From TIME

Contact us at letters@time.com.

You May Also Like
EDIT POST