Based on our project, just over half (57.3%) of Ithaca High School students who took the U.S. Citizenship Test passed. When comparing this passing rate with the passing rate of foreigners looking to achieve citizenship (91%), we find that Ithaca High School students fared significantly worse. Additionally, the average score on the test was in fact a failing score of 5.8/10.
The poor performance shown on the test can be explained by a number of factors. First, participants were not expecting to be tested and therefore could not study for the exam. Foreigners often spend weeks to months studying U.S. civics in preparation for this test. However, these immigrants almost always speak another language other than English. The test is administered
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However, there were a number of people who refused to take the exam, often saying they needed “a break from anything school-related.” Offering students a choice whether to take the test or not introduced voluntary bias in our project. If students knew that they understood U.S. civics well, they would be more inclined to take the test than someone who did not have that kind of mastery.
The results generated in our project raised questions regarding the implications of the U.S. Citizenship Test. For example, should high school students be required to pass the U.S. Citizenship Test in order to graduate? Since foreigners must pass to prove they can be active members of our democracy, shouldn’t high school graduates prove that as well? Secondly, is the information required to pass the U.S. Citizenship Test useful to a US Citizen in their daily life? The worst-performing question in our study asked participants to name when the Constitution was written. Considering that citizens generally specialize in many different fields, is knowledge of specific facts like this really representative of their ability to be a committed citizen? Lastly, does a lack of understanding of U.S. civics make for a misguided perspective of politics? In light of the recent election where the two front-runners presented largely clashing views of how to run the country, voters should understand the basics of U.S. civics
The document, Learn About the United States: Quick Civics Lessons for the Naturalization Test, has many important ideologies to help immigrants gain U.S citizenship. The concept that is the most valuable for immigrants to understand in order to become productive law- abiding citizens of the United States is the Constitution and how it works. How the government operates, taking part of the political process, who makes the laws, and your rights as a citizen is all covered under the Constitution.
After taking the “Constitution Quiz,” I was very disappointed. Not only did I earn a 6/10 on the quiz, but I noticed a relatively low score of 7/10 for the state of California. Considering my performance in school and love for American history, I was embarrassed. I truly believe that this is a legitimate reflection on society’s horrible job of teaching the youth about the government in which they are under. Up until this point in the educational system, we students have not been exposed to the study of our own government or that of any other governmental system. Our knowledge dwindles past the obvious three branches of the U.S. government. Compared to other countries, we are far behind. I traveled to Japan this summer
Citizenship in Athens and Rome has similarities and differences. Being a citizen is being a native or naturalized member of a state or nation who owes allegiance to its government. Being a citizen meant different things in each empire. The relationship between the citizen and their nation varied from their system of citizenship. Rome had a better system of citizenship because they were more open to who they allowed citizenship, they gave people they conquered citizenship, and personal grudges, judgements about others/topics would not affect the Empire.
All Americans got the right to vote in 1924, when the Congress passed an American Indian Citizenship act. That was the year the Native Americans finally got their full United States citizenship. “The congressional act American Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 made all Native Americans citizens of the United States, with full voting rights. For Native Americans, this law was an important step toward political equality with other Americans” (Source 1 Pearson excerpt). The United States gave the Native people the right to vote or their citizenship as a thank you for their support in the First World War.
One reason why Americans shouldn’t be required to vote is because voting without background information might lead to wrong decisions. Evidence supporting this reason is, in document G (New York Times) (Randy Cohen) states that people that are uninformed, will end up voting for something that doesn’t endorse their interests. This evidence helps explain
The concept of citizenship and its general approach in different eras by Michael Schudson has been such a topic for debate, given with the notion of how society today tend to define the distinct ideal “citizen” and its origins in America while comparing them to various nations around the world to see how each differs from the other while indicating that an informed citizen in a mass democracy has thus far been insufficient. He gave some examples in an earlier in an American democracy that an informed citizen did not in fact require much in society, with only traits such as loyalty and regularity being the most sought after; elections through education in an effort by “Mugwumps” (a term used to describe Republican political activists who left
The Abington School District v. Schempp (374 U.S. 203 (1963)), Wisconsin v. Yoder (406 U.S. 205 (1972)), and Amback v. Norwick, 441 v. 68 (1979)) cases discuss how and why education, to some degree, is necessary to prepare citizens to participate in our political system.
Another important requirement is that applicants for naturalization must be able to read, write, speak, and understand words in ordinary usage in the English language. The only people who are exempt from that are those who have been residing permanently in the U.S. for over 15 years and are 55 years of age or older, have been residing 20 years and 50 years of age or older, or have a physical or mental disability which impairs them from learning English. An applicant must also demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of the history and the form of government of the United States. To demonstrate this knowledge and understanding the applicant must take a U.S. History test which consists of approximately 25
In October of 2015, Calvin Christian High School’s Advanced Placement (AP) Government class conducted a poll in Walker, Michigan to better understand the citizens’ political views. The government class’s twelve students collaborated over the course approximately two weeks to create an unbiased poll with concise demographic questions and current political issues. The twelve students broke down into groups of four to formulate questions. After researching current topics and forming the questions, the class carefully critiqued each question to prevent bias, incoherency, or redundancy. After going through the long list of questions, the class voted, and nine questions were selected, and thus transferred to the official poll. The last step in
By making civic competence a central aim, the curriculum can emphasize the importance of educating students who are committed to the ideas and values of democracy. An understanding of civic ideals and practices is critical to full participation in society and is an essential component of education for citizenship. For example since civic competence has to rests on the commitment to democratic values, it requires that citizens have the ability to use their knowledge about their community, nation, and world to derive solution and solve real problems.
Intro-The average American voter. Typically the claim or reason a person votes is because of agreement with a candidate or policy. General knowledge about the issues in this country and current running candidates is extremely abundant. As I mentioned voters will vote for a politician who they believe “knows” how to fix these issues. Yet in a recent Newsweek survey 1,000 random U.S. citizens were asked to take America’s ‘official’ citizenship test, 29 percent could not name the vice president. 73 percent could not identify why we fought the Cold War. 44 percent were unable to define what the Bill of Rights are, and 6 percent couldn’t even circle Independence Day on a calendar. If American people/voters cannot even identify
With civic engagement development being initiated nationwide, we must attempt to understand citizenship in today’s world. Citizenship is often a misunderstood concept.
“A student body must be composed of more than students who do well on a test. A standardized achievement test cannot measure intangibles such as a candidate's drive and individual determination” (Spiegler, 2013). Since the mid-1800s, high stakes testing has been an enormous part of American education. In the American education system, the lack of success have been held accountable on the increasing levels in poverty, universal use of high stakes testing, and quality of teachers. High stakes testing demonstrates bias against women and categories of socioeconomic variety. The SAT and ACT are unfair because wealthier citizens can afford tutors to assist students with test tips and higher scores on the exams. While in the process of applying for
I am a Chinese immigrant, and I have been New York six years already. In here, I spend lots of time to learn English and adapt the cultures. Even my language is not as good as a native speaker, but I still want to be an American here. Therefore, I am planning to become a US citizen within two years, before I graduate college. In this six years, I started from learning alphabetical in high school. Because of my language problem, I didn’t have a good GPA in high school. It made me upset. After I graduate high school, I didn’t go to college, because I thought, even I went to college at that time, I won’t have good score and achievement. I won’t spend too much time and concentrated on study. Therefore, in the year after I graduated, I went to
For one, immigration policies might be important when it comes to a family without papers, while financial aid and tax reform might be important to another. Regardless of the situation, one’s consciousness is affected when one does not vote, even if they do not realize it. Everyone is different, that is why personal involvement in the voting polls is one of the most important things one can do to contribute to their own life in the United States, but along with self-thinking, there is also a larger role that takes place by voting.