South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Civics test to be required for college students
To earn a degree, Floridians will have to take the course and pass
Florida college students will need to take a government or history course and pass an exam similar to the nation’s citizenship test to earn degrees under a new rule approved Wednesday as part of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ focus on civics education.
But students will first take the “basic” test in high school — many 12th graders will sit for the exam next week — so they could knock out that part of the requirement before they enroll at a state college or university.
The rule was one of two related to civics education the State
Board of Education approved unanimously during a meeting in Orlando. The other detailed classroom expectations, requiring K-12 civics lessons to help develop “an upright and desirable citizenry” that understands the “founding principles and documents” of the United States.
DeSantis, who campaigned for improved civics education when he ran for governor, touted the new rule — required by a package of 2021 laws — as a way to combat the “sad reality” that many Americans do not know basic civic facts, such as the three branches of the federal government. The state board, whose members were appointed by DeSantis or his Republican predecessors, adopted them with almost no discussion.
The new rule on “civic literacy competency” alters one adopted in 2018 that required college students to pass a modified version of the citizenship test — a simple multiple-choice exam — or take a history or government course.
Now students must do both. The new rule impacts students who began college this fall and those who enroll in coming years.
They will have an out, however. Students who take Advanced Placement U.S. History or AP government in high school and earn certain passing scores on those national AP exams are exempt from both the course and test requirements in college. More than 9,500 Florida students earned the needed score on the AP history exam last year.
But students still will sit for the new Florida Civic Literacy Exam in high school, likely as 12th graders when most take a U.S. government course. The first testing session begins Monday.
The 80-question, multiple-choice test is based on the exam given by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to those who want to become naturalized citizens. It includes questions such as: How many U.S. Senators are there? If the president can no longer serve, who becomes president?
Students can pass by getting 48 questions, or 60%, correct, the state decided.
“These are basic questions about American civics, history and government,” said Ilene Haney, a social studies specialist with the Seminole County school district, as staff reviewed information about the new test recently with the Seminole County School Board.
“Keep in mind that this is a basic civic literacy exam,” Haney said. “It does not include advance content.”
By law, Florida students learn U.S. history and civics starting in elementary school, take a fullyear civics class in middle school and then take both U.S. history and government classes in high school.
“The kids should not have any trouble with any of the content,” said Kelly Thompson, director of research and accountability for Seminole schools.
Students will have more than two hours to complete the exam but Thompson said she expects most will finish in less than half that time.
A 2018 study, however, found that only 36 percent of Americans could pass the U.S. Citizenship
Test. “Most Americans don’t know the facts” about the United States’ founding and couldn’t identify the 13 original states, according to the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, which released the study.
Seminole plans to test its 12th graders next week when the state “testing window” for the new exam opens, but districts have options.
The Osceola County school district, for example, plans to give the exam in December, and Lake County high schools are giving it at various times during the Oct. 26 to Dec. 16 window depending on what works best on their campus.
The test does not count for a grade for high school students, nor is it a high school graduation requirement. But students who pass it in high school can bank their score to meet the test portion of the new civics rule should they enroll at one of the state’s public colleges or universities.
The other new rule on civics the state board adopted continues DeSantis’ goal of civics education that highlights the “root cause of American exceptionalism.”
The state board in July adopted new academic standards for what should be taught in classrooms. The new rule spells out broad goals for those lessons. Combined, the two will be used to revise civics courses and put out bids for new civics and history textbooks, said Jacob Oliva, chancellor for K-12 education for the Florida Department of Education.
The new rule says civics education should focus on teaching “the principles reflected in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States.”
These lessons should create a “sense of civic pride” and “an understanding of the civicminded expectations of an upright and desirable citizenry,” it adds.