The National Assessment Governing Board 

The National Assessment Governing Board was created by Congress

to formulate policy for the National Assessment of Educational 

Progress (NAEP). Among the Board’s responsibilities are

developing objectives and test specifications, and designing the

assessment methodology for NAEP. 

Members 

Honorable David P. Driscoll, 

Chair 

Former Commissioner of 

Education 

Melrose, Massachusetts 

Susan Pimentel, Vice Chair 

Educational Consultant 

Hanover, New Hampshire 

Andrés Alonso 

Professor of Practice 

Harvard Graduate School of 

Education 

Harvard University 

Cambridge, Massachusetts 

Louis M. Fabrizio 

Data, Research and Federal 

Policy Director 

North Carolina Department of 

Public Instruction 

Raleigh, North Carolina 

Honorable Anitere Flores 

Senator 

Florida State Senate 

Miami, Florida 

Alan J. Friedman 

Consultant 

Museum Development and 

Science Communication 

New York, New York 

Rebecca Gagnon 

School Board Member 

Minneapolis Public Schools 

Minneapolis, Minnesota 

Shannon Garrison 

Fourth-Grade Teacher 

Solano Avenue Elementary 

School 

Los Angeles, California 

Doris R. Hicks 

Principal and Chief Executive 

Officer 

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Charter School for Science and 

Technology 

New Orleans, Louisiana 

Andrew Dean Ho 

Associate Professor 

Harvard Graduate School of 

Education 

Harvard University 

Cambridge, Massachusetts 

Honorable Terry Holliday 

Commissioner of Education 

Kentucky Department of 

Education 

Lexington, Kentucky 

Richard Brent Houston 

Assistant Superintendent 

Shawnee Public Schools 

Shawnee, Oklahoma 

Hector Ibarra 

Eighth-Grade Teacher 

Belin-Blank International Center 

and Talent Development 

Iowa City, Iowa 

Honorable Tom Luna 

Idaho Superintendent of Public 

Instruction 

Boise, Idaho 

Terry Mazany 

President and CEO 

The Chicago Community Trust 

Chicago, Illinois 

Tonya Miles 

General Public Representative 

Mitchellville, Maryland 

Dale Nowlin 

Twelfth-Grade Teacher 

Columbus North High School 

Columbus, Indiana 

Joseph M. O'Keefe, S.J. 

Professor 

Lynch School of Education 

Boston College 

Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 

W. James Popham 

Professor Emeritus 

University of California, Los 

Angeles 

Wilsonville, Oregon 

B. Fielding Rolston 

Chairman 

Tennessee State Board of 

Education 

Kingsport, Tennessee 

Cary Sneider 

Associate Research Professor 

Portland State University 

Portland, Oregon 

Honorable Leticia Van de 

Putte 

Senator 

Texas State Senate 

San Antonio, Texas 

Ex Officio Member 

John Q. Easton 

Director 

Institute of Education Sciences 

U.S. Department of Education 

Washington, D.C. 
 

 

 

 

 

U.S. History Framework 

for the 2014 

National Assessment of 

Educational Progress 

Developed for the National Assessment Governing Board under

contract number RN 91072001 by the Council of Chief State School

Officers with the American Historical Association, the American 

Institutes for Research, the National Council for History Education,

and the National Council for the Social Studies. 
U.S. History Assessment Framework for the National 

Assessment of Educational Progress 

Developed for the National Assessment Governing Board under

contract number RN 91072001 by the Council of Chief State School 

Officers with the American Historical Association, American

Institutes for Research, National Council for History Education, and

National Council for the Social Studies. 

For further information, contact the National Assessment

Governing Board:	 800 N. Capitol St. NW 

Suite 825 

Washington, DC 20002

www.nagb.org 

National Assessment Governing Board 

Honorable David P. Driscoll
 

Chair
 

Susan Pimentel
 

Vice Chair
 

Cornelia S. Orr
 

Executive Director
 

Mary Crovo

Deputy Executive Director

and Project Officer
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table of Contents 

Executive Summary ......................................................................... v

Introduction...................................................................................... 1

Chapter One: U.S. History in Elementary, Middle, and High 

Schools .......................................................................................... 3

Nature of U.S. History................................................................... 3

Chapter Two: The Framework for the 2014 NAEP U.S. 

History Assessment...................................................................... 7

Purpose of the Framework............................................................. 7

Elements of the Framework........................................................... 7

Content Matrix Outline.................................................................. 7

Themes of U.S. History ................................................................. 8

Periods of U.S. History................................................................ 13

Ways of Knowing and Thinking About U.S. History ................. 31

Chapter Three: Desired Attributes of the Assessment and 

Its Exercises and Items.............................................................. 35

Achievement Levels in U.S. History ........................................... 37

Appendix A: NAEP U.S. History Framework Project— 

Staff, Committee Members, and Subcontractors ................... 41

Appendix B: Released Items From the NAEP U.S. History 

Assessment.................................................................................. 47

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I 

Executive Summary 

n a democratic country such as the United States, the study of

history is vital. All students need to know and understand the

origins and evolution of their nation. They also need to 

understand the development of the nation’s democratic institutions 

and ideals so that they are prepared to take part knowledgeably, as

citizens and voters, in shaping America’s future. 

The framework in U.S. history for the 1994–2014 National 

Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) was developed by the

National Assessment Governing Board under contract to the Council

of Chief State School Officers in 1991–1992. The original

framework project committees included a broad range of historians,

educators, policymakers, business representatives, and other

interested citizens. In addition, comments were received from several 

hundred individuals, including state and local educators, public

officials, and parents. 

The Governing Board has scheduled a national assessment in U.S. 

history for 2014 to gauge knowledge and skills of the nation’s 

eighth-grade students. Due to limited funding, the Governing Board 

decided to conduct the assessment at only grade 8 for 2014. This 

U.S. History Assessment will use the same framework as in 1994 to 

enable NAEP to report on trends in student achievement from 1994 

to 2014. 

In 2003, the Governing Board revised and updated the framework 

for the 2006 U.S. History Assessment. The framework document 

was revised to make it more useful to the general public, to delete

outdated and extraneous information, and to include released NAEP 

questions to illustrate more clearly the content and format of the

assessment. These relatively minor revisions to the framework will

ensure that NAEP can maintain the U.S. history trend line of student 

achievement for grades 4, 8, and 12 in 1994, 2001, 2006, and 2010,

and for grade 8 in 2014. The revisions in 2003 were made by the 

Governing Board’s Assessment Development Committee in

consultation with an external panel of historians and teachers. The 

updated U.S. History Framework was then approved by the 

Governing Board at its August 2003 meeting. 

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The framework reflects the conviction of the National 

Assessment Governing Board that any broadly acceptable

examination in U.S. history must be a careful balance of: 

•	 What is commonly taught and learned and what ought to be

grasped by our students;

•	 The common and diverse strands that formed one nation from

many groups and gave life to its motto, E pluribus unum;

•	 Accomplishments and failings in achieving the nation’s goals

and ideals;

•	 Specific names, dates, and facts that students need to know to

master concepts, generalizations, and intellectual skills.

This framework identifies the main ideas, major events, key

individuals, and unifying themes of American history as a basis for

preparing the 2014 assessment. The framework recognizes that U.S.

history includes powerful ideas, common and diverse traditions,

economic developments, technological and scientific innovations,

philosophical debates, religious movements, and the interconnection 

of all these forces. 

The teaching of history should introduce students to the process of

historical inquiry. This process requires critical examination of

evidence, thoughtful consideration of conflicting claims, and careful

weighing of facts and hypotheses. Historical inquiry provides

experience in the kind of reasoned and informed decision-making

that should characterize each citizen’s participation in our American

democracy. 

The framework organizes U.S. history into four central themes.

Each theme is described briefly below and more fully in chapter

two of the framework. 

1. Change and Continuity in American Democracy: Ideas,

Institutions, Events, Key Figures, and Controversies. The

development of American political democracy from colonial

times to the present. This includes basic principles and core

civic ideas developed through the American Revolution, the

U.S. Constitution, the Civil War, and the struggles over

slavery and civil rights.

vi 
 

 

 

 

 

 

2. The Gathering and Interactions of Peoples, Cultures, and 

Ideas. The gathering of peoples and cultures of many countries,

races, and religious traditions that have contributed to the

development of the American heritage and American society. 

3. Economic and Technological Changes and Their

Relationship to Society, Ideas, and the Environment. The 

transformation of the American economy from rural frontier to

industrial superpower and its impact on society, ideas, and the

environment. This includes the influence of geography; the 

development of business and labor; and the impact of science

and technology, a market economy, and urbanization. 

4. The Changing Role of America in the World. The movement 

from isolation to worldwide responsibility. The evolution of 

relationships between the United States and other nations, 

including American foreign policy and the nation’s

participation in world and regional wars. Students will consider

the influence of geography, economic interests, and democratic

ideals in evaluating the role of the United States in foreign

affairs. 

The framework divides U.S. history into eight chronological

periods: 

•	 Beginnings to 1607 

•	 Colonization, Settlement, and Communities (1607–1763) 

•	 The Revolution and the New Nation (1763–1815) 

•	 Expansion and Reform (1801–1861) 

•	 Crisis of the Union: Civil War and Reconstruction
 

(1850–1877)
 

•	 The Development of Modern America (1865–1920) 

•	 Modern America and the World Wars (1914–1945) 

•	 Contemporary America (1945 to the present) 

As schools teach U.S. history, we hope they will foster a sense of

excitement and pride and that students will gain a sense of who

Americans are and of what the idea of America is. Indeed, this nation

was founded on a core of ideals—liberty, equality of opportunity, 

freedom of religion, self-government under law, and respect for 

individual worth—that continues to draw millions to our shores. 

vii 
 

 

 

 

 

 

To understand these core democratic ideals, students should be

familiar with the nation’s founding documents as well as major

documents such as Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and Second 

Inaugural Address, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms, and

Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech at the Lincoln Memorial. These

documents, and the ideals they express, serve as a force for unity and 

continue to stimulate reform. 

viii 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Introduction

Since 1969, the National Assessment of Educational Progress

(NAEP) has been the sole, ongoing national indicator of what

students in the United States know and can do in major

academic subjects. Over the years, NAEP has measured students’

achievement in many subjects including reading, mathematics, 

science, writing, geography, civics, and the arts. NAEP is a

congressionally authorized program administered by the U.S.

Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics.

The National Assessment Governing Board sets policy for NAEP. 

Among the Governing Board’s congressionally mandated

responsibilities are selecting subject areas to be assessed, developing

assessment objectives and specifications, and determining 

appropriate student achievement levels. 

Under provisions of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 

2001 (Public Law 107–110), Congress authorized the Governing

Board to continue its mandate for determining the content and

format of NAEP assessments. While NCLB requires NAEP to

assess reading and mathematics every 2 years in grades 4 and 8, the 

legislation permits the assessment of other subjects such as science, 

writing, U.S. history, civics, geography, and other areas, to the

extent time and resources allow. 

The Governing Board has scheduled a national assessment in 

U.S. history for 2014 to gauge the knowledge and skills of the 

nation’s eighth-grade students. Due to limited funding, the Board 

decided to conduct the assessment at only grade 8 for 2014. This

U.S. History Assessment will use the same framework as in 1994 to 

enable NAEP to report on trends in student achievement from 1994

to 2014. 

The following table describes NAEP assessments in history and

the social sciences since 1969.

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Table 1. Previous NAEP assessments in history and the social sciences 

Subjects Year(s) Notes 

Economics 2012 Economics—national data for grade 12 only; second

economics assessment for NAEP. 

Civics 

U.S. History

Geography 

2010 Civics—national data for grades 4, 8, and 12;

continues trend line from 1998 and 2006. U.S.

history—national data for grades 4, 8, and 12;

continues trend line from 1994 and 2001, and 2006. 

Geography—national data for grades 4, 8, and 12;

continues trend line from 1994 and 2001. 

Civics 

U.S. History

Economics 

2006 Civics—national data for grades 4, 8, and 12;

continues trend line from 1998. U.S. history—national

data for grades 4, 8, and 12; continues trend line from

1994 and 2001. Economics—national data for grade

12 only; first economics assessment for NAEP.

U.S. History

Geography 

2001 National data at grades 4, 8, and 12.

Civics 1998 National data at grades 4, 8, and 12; beginning of new

trend line for civics assessment; special study on

subsample of students at grades 4, 8, and 12 using

questions from 1988 civics assessment.

U.S. History

Geography 

1994 National data at grades 4, 8, and 12; beginning of new

trend lines for these two assessments. 

Geography 1988 Special assessment at grade 12 and age 17, conducted

with support from the National Geographic Society. 

Civics: U.S. 

Government 

and Politics 

1988 Grade 4 and age 9; grade 8 and age 13; and grade 12

and age 17, with links back to parts of the 1976 and

1982 citizenship assessments at ages 13 and 17.

U.S. History 1988 Grade 4 and age 9; grade 8 and age 13; and grade 12

and age 17, with a special study linking results to

those from 1986.

U.S. History

Literature 

1986 Grade 11 and age 17; conducted with the Educational

Excellence Network and with support from the

National Endowment for the Humanities. 

Citizenship

Social Studies 

1981–82 Ages 9, 13, and 17.

Social Studies 1975–76 Ages 9, 13, and 17.

Citizenship 1975–76 Ages 9, 13, and 17.

Social Studies 1971–72 Ages 9, 13, and 17.

Publications related to previous NAEP assessments can be found at

www.nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard. 

2 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter One: U.S. History in 

Elementary, Middle, and High Schools 

Nature of U.S. History 

As young people study U.S. history, they gain insight into the

American experience over time and discover how the past

influences the present. They encounter new (and sometimes

conflicting) ideas, compelling stories of people and events, diverse 

traditions, economic booms and busts, technological and scientific

innovations, philosophical and political debates, religious

movements and influences, and the complex interactions among

these various forces. Most of all, they study people—individually 

and in groups—in their complex settings and in their complex

reactions to the world around them. 

The framework for the assessment of U.S. history in elementary,

middle, and high schools is based on seven basic assumptions: 

•	 First, historical study must strive to connect people and events

across time and to establish a context that includes the 

political, social, cultural, economic, technological,

philosophical, and religious dimensions of human activities. 

•	 Second, the study of U.S. history must analyze change and

continuity over time, explore the range of choices that have 

been available to people, and examine the events, people, and 

ideas that have been most significant in our nation’s

development. The study of history introduces students to 

people from all walks of life and to key events, major turning 

points, and significant records that reveal the American 

people’s beliefs, hopes, and ideas. 

•	 Third, to illuminate the range and depth of the human

experience, as well as differing perspectives, historical study

must include famous people and ordinary individuals and

events on the grand scale and in everyday life to convey the 

ideas and experiences that have shaped U.S. history. It must

be informed by the humanities and social sciences, and it must

draw on many forms of documentation such as original 

3
 
 

 

 

 

documents, speeches, cartoons, artifacts, photos, art, music,

architecture, literature, drama, dance, popular culture,

biographies, journals, folklore, historic sites and places, and 

oral histories. 

•	 Fourth, history as a topic must include the analytical study of

the nation’s political ideals of individual dignity, individual 

rights, civic virtue, democracy, the rule of law, equality of

opportunity, liberty, popular sovereignty, justice, and the right

to dissent. The study of U.S. history must show how and why

these core civic ideas have influenced American society, 

while recognizing historical moments such as the Civil War,

when these ideals were challenged or violated. The study of

American history will (1) address the conflict between the

founding proposition that “all men are created equal” in

possession of certain rights and the reality that enormous

inequalities in legal protection and in political and economic

opportunity were common and accepted practice throughout

the world at the outset of the American experiment, (2) show

how individuals and groups have worked since the founding 

to make the nation’s civic ideals real for all people, and (3)

identify the institutions and laws that establish equality under

law for everyone. 

•	 Fifth, history has a spatial dimension—the places where

human actions occur. The study of history must examine how

events were influenced by geography, such as the locations of

places and relationships within places. Aspects of the natural

environment, such as climate and terrain, influence human

behavior, and people affect the places they inhabit. 

•	 Sixth, it is necessary to identify enduring themes that link

people and events across time and space. People and events in 

history are not isolated and discrete; they are linked in many 

ways. The linkages are not static but are continuously

evolving, and later generations will certainly perceive new 

relationships that are not evident today. Among the many

possible themes of U.S. history, four have been selected for

emphasis in the assessment: 

4
 
1. Change and Continuity in American Democracy:

Ideas, Institutions, Events, Key Figures, and

Controversies

2. The Gathering and Interactions of Peoples, Cultures, and

Ideas

3. Economic and Technological Changes and Their

Relationship to Society, Ideas, and the Environment

4. The Changing Role of America in the World

•	 Seventh, students need historical reasoning skills to enable

them to examine evidence, analyze cause and effect, and

appreciate how complex and sometimes ambiguous the

explanation of historical events can be. Historical study must

encourage students to think and judge evidence responsibly,

independently, imaginatively, and critically. In developing

critical-thinking skills, students should engage in debates and

consider alternative viewpoints or possibilities of historical

movements and their causes.

In sum, students must know the specific facts of American history,

be able to evaluate historical evidence, and understand change and 

continuity over time. For them, the nation’s past should be a body of

knowledge as well as a source for understanding America’s promise,

achievements, and shortcomings. They must be prepared to examine 

the influence of the past on the present and to weigh evidence in 

order to reach generalizations and conclusions about how change and 

continuity have occurred. 

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Chapter Two: The Framework for the 

2014 NAEP U.S. History Assessment 

Purpose of the Framework 

The National Assessment Governing Board develops an 

assessment framework for each National Assessment of 

Educational Progress (NAEP) subject area. A framework

defines the scope of the domain to be measured by delineating the 

knowledge and skills to be tested at each grade, the format of the

NAEP assessment, and achievement level descriptions. The

framework will provide information to the public and test developers

on three key aspects of the assessment: 

•	 What should be measured at grades 4, 8, and 12

•	 How the domain of content is most appropriately measured in

a large-scale assessment

•	 How much of the content domain, in terms of knowledge and

skills, students should know and be able to do at the Basic,

Proficient, and Advanced levels

Elements of the Framework 

This assessment framework has three components: Themes in 

U.S. History; Periods of U.S. History; and Ways of Knowing and 

Thinking About U.S. History. The themes and periods that structure 

the assessment are illustrated in the content matrix (table 2) and

explained in the section that follows the matrix. The final section of

the chapter, Ways of Knowing and Thinking about U.S. History,

defines the cognitive dimensions of the assessment. 

Content Matrix Outline 

The framework is defined by a content matrix outline. This

matrix consists of the four major themes as observed in each of

the eight chronological periods of American history. The four

themes form the horizontal axis of the content matrix, while the

eight periods of U.S. history form its vertical axis. The periods

are a useful way to divide history into manageable segments. The 

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themes establish important emphases within periods and ensure

continuity from one era to another. Although the framework is 

based on one set of historical periods and issues, other

perspectives, other issues, and other chronologies could easily 

have been identified. 

The general questions posed for each theme and the specific

questions developed for each period define a conceptual approach to

U.S. history. The questions provide a way to think about U.S. history

in elementary and secondary school and to define content and

interpretive approaches to be used in creating assessment exercises

for grades 4, 8, and 12. Appendix B provides publicly released test

questions from the 1994 and 2001 NAEP U.S. history assessments.

Additional NAEP questions, performance results, scoring criteria,

and sample student responses can be found on the NAEP website at 

www.nces.ed.gov/naep. 

Themes of U.S. History 

The four themes that will be the central focus of the assessment 

are defined through general questions. The theme questions establish

the context for the people, events, ideas, movements, issues, and

sources to be addressed in each historical period. Not all themes,

however, will be examined in equal depth in all periods or at all 

grade levels because the thematic emphasis in any given period will

depend on the major historical issues and developments of that

period. 

8
 
Defining Questions 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Theme 1. Change and Continuity in American Democracy:

Ideas, Institutions, Events, Key Figures, and

Controversies 

•	 What political, legal, philosophical, and religious traditions did

Americans draw on for their conceptions of democracy? Who

were the leaders, what were their contributions, and what

political and legal institutions developed? In what significant

ways have these institutions continued? In what ways have they

changed? What individuals and groups have been important in

maintaining, testing, and changing these institutions? 

Table 2. NAEP U.S. history content matrix outline 

Note: Not all of the themes will be addressed equally in every period. 

*These themes will not be tested at grade 4 for each designated period. 

•	 Which democratic institutions and procedures made change

possible? How does the Constitution permit compromise,

continuity, and change? What landmark documents reflect 

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Theme 2. The Gathering and Interactions of Peoples, Cultures,

and Ideas 

Defining Questions 

 

 

 

 

 

 

change and continuity? 

•	 What are the basic principles and critical assumptions of

American constitutional government about the sources of 

political power and the rights of individuals? What core civic

ideas (for example, individual rights and popular sovereignty)

have influenced American society? What individuals and groups

have maintained, tested, and influenced the evolution of these 

ideas? What primary documents include these commonly held

civic ideas (for example, the Mayflower Compact, Declaration of

Independence, Federalist Papers, Constitution, Bill of Rights,

Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments, and “I Have a Dream” 

speech)? What landmark Supreme Court cases have had an

important influence on our nation (for example, Brown v. Board 

of Education, Plessy v. Ferguson, Marbury v. Madison)? Why

has the Constitution survived, and why has it become a model

political framework? How have Americans responded to

inherent tensions and conflicts of constitutional democracy, such

as reconciling the desire for liberty with the need for order,

majority rule with minority rights, and liberty with equality? 

•	 How has the cultural diversity of American society shaped the 

nation’s civic culture, political institutions, and political

practices? What individuals and groups played important roles in 

raising and responding to issues about diversity and unity in the

American body politic? What major political controversies arose 

about the issues? Which controversies have been resolved? 

Which controversies have remained or re-emerged under other 

circumstances? 

•	 What racial, ethnic, religious, and national groups formed this 

nation? Why did people immigrate to the land that became the 

United States and why has the country continued to attract so 

many immigrants? What have been the patterns and conditions 

of this migration (for example, voluntarily in search of 

economic opportunity, religious freedom, and political refuge; 

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involuntarily in bondage as slaves, or in a “nonfree” status such

as indentured servants and contract laborers)? How has the 

racial, ethnic, and religious composition of the nation changed

over time? What racial, ethnic, and religious tensions arose?

What issues have been resolved? What issues remain? What 

were the patterns of settlement? How and why have these

settlement patterns changed? 

•	 What common and diverse cultural traditions did Americans 

develop? How did racial, ethnic, religious, and national groups

contribute to the creation of American culture? What individuals 

and defining events contributed to these developments? What

primary documents and historical sources—such as original

documents, speeches, cartoons, artifacts, photos, art, music,

architecture, literature, drama, dance, popular culture,

biographies, journals, folklore, historic sites and places, and oral

histories—reflect the development of American culture? 

•	 What have been the roles of men and women in American 

society? How and why have gender roles changed over time? 

Theme 3. Economic and Technological Changes and Their

Relationship to Society, Ideas, and the Environment 

Defining Questions 

•	 How did the United States develop from a rural, agricultural

economy to an urban, industrialized superpower? What were the 

human and environmental benefits and costs of this 

development? How and why has the standard of living for most 

Americans changed over time? How have state and national

governments responded to issues raised by economic

developments and how have these governments participated in 

the economy? 

•	 What ideas, values, and practices (for example, individual 

entrepreneurship, private ownership of property, laissez-faire 

economics, free enterprise, monopolies, and government

regulation) contributed to the development of the American

economic system? What types of labor systems developed and

how did they influence society and the economy? How has the

economic system, including its ideas and values, adapted to

changing conditions and changing demands? What forms of 

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prosperity and opportunity resulted? How have the work lives

and economic opportunities of various groups differed (for 

example, men and women, racial groups, and people in different 

regions)? 

•	 How have geography and economic and technological

developments influenced society? How have these developments

influenced how Americans make a living, where they live, their 

quality of life, and their natural environment? 

•	 What have been the major American achievements and

developments in science and technology? Who played key roles?

What caused these developments? How have these developments

influenced the economy, the environment, and the rest of the

world? What have been the most important economic, scientific,

and technological issues? How have these scientific and

technological developments affected other areas of American

society? 

Theme 4. The Changing Role of America in the World 

Defining Questions 

•	 What were the causes and consequences of key events that

marked American involvement in world affairs? The SpanishAmerican War? World War I? World War II? The Marshall 

Plan? The Cold War? Globalization? 

•	 How have the geographical location and resources of the United 

States, its ideals, its interests, and its power influenced its role in

the world? How and why has that role changed? Who played

significant roles in international affairs at critical moments in

American history? What is the role of public opinion in shaping

foreign policy in a democracy? What primary documents and

historical sources record the key developments? 

•	 How have the interests, institutions, ideologies, individuals,

power, and activities of other nations affected the United States? 

•	 How have the interests, institutions, ideologies, individuals,

power, and activities of the United States affected other nations? 

•	 How has life in the United States been affected by the nation’s

role in the world? 

The distribution of the assessment exercise pool across historical

themes for grades 4, 8, and 12 follows in table 3. 

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Theme 1 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table 3. Distribution of the test questions across historical themes: grades 4, 8,

and 12 

Grade Levels 

Themes 

Change and

Continuity in

American 

Democracy:

Ideas,

Institutions,

Events, Key

Figures, and

Controversies 

The 

Gathering

and 

Interactions 

of Peoples,

Cultures, and

Ideas 

Economic and 

Technological

Changes and

Their 

Relationship

to Society, 

Ideas, and the

Environment 

The 

Changing

Role of 

America in 

the World 

Grade 4 25% 35% 25% 15% 

Grade 8 30% 30% 20% 20% 

Grade 12 25% 25% 25% 25% 

Periods of U.S. History 

Because history is concerned with the experiences of people over

time, it is critical to establish a basic chronological structure to 

organize it. Eight periods structure the assessment. A series of

questions directly related to the four historical themes establishes the

content and interpretive emphasis for each period. The questions set

the parameters of U.S. history for the assessment and will guide the

development of assessment exercises. 

Period 1: Beginnings to 1607 

•	 What were some of the political ideas, institutions, and

practices of American Indians, Western Europeans, and West 

Africans before 1607? How did these ideas influence colonial 

American settlements? 

Theme 2 

•	 What were the family patterns, religious practices, political

institutions, and artistic traditions of Western Europeans that 

principally influenced and shaped colonial American 

settlements? How did American Indian and West African 

traditions contribute to creating a new and uniquely American

culture in the 17th and 18th centuries? 

13
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

•	 What was “the Columbian exchange”? How did it affect

societies and cultures worldwide?

•	 Why did Europeans explore and settle in the Western

Hemisphere? Who were the explorers? What were their

motivations? How did geographical factors influence their

routes?

•	 What historical sources provide insights into the exchange?

Theme 3 

•	 How did Europeans, American Indians, and West Africans live

and make a living on the eve of Columbus’ voyage?

•	 What were the economic and trading relationships among

Europe, Asia, and Africa before Columbus’ voyage? How did

these relationships change with the beginning of trans-Atlantic

trade?

•	 How did European inventions and technological developments

(particularly in navigation and armament) lead to exploration and

early conquest? What role did education and literacy play in

spreading these technological developments? What individuals

and groups contributed to these developments?

•	 What was the role of economic factors in exploration and the

search for resources in the Western Hemisphere? What impact

did exploration have on the economies of Europe, West Africa,

and North America?

•	 What labor systems emerged? Why did the practice of slavery

develop in the Western Hemisphere? How did it compare with

other forms of slavery that existed historically in Africa and

other parts of the world?

Theme 4 

•	 How did the quest for political and economic power among

European nations cause rivalries in the Western Hemisphere?

•	 How did Europeans’ efforts to gain control in the Western

Hemisphere affect the people of West Africa and the North

American continent? How did these people respond?

14
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Theme 2 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Period 2: Colonization, Settlement, and Communities 

(1607–1763) 

Theme 1 

•	 How did various European colonists reshape their political, legal,

and philosophical traditions to fit their circumstances in North

America? What new political traditions evolved? In the English

colonies, what practices of self-government and law developed?

•	 How did various American Indian groups view and respond to

European colonization?

•	 How did ideas about individual rights, popular sovereignty, and

law develop in different parts of the British, Spanish, Dutch, and

French colonies?

•	 What conceptions of law, government, literacy, education, and

human nature did English colonists bring with them? What was

the significance of the Mayflower Compact?

•	 Who were the colonists? What were the reasons they came?

Where did they settle? What social and cultural organizations did

they create? What were the conflicts and cooperative efforts

among and within these groups? What was the impact on

American Indians?

•	 What motives did the colonists’ financial backers have in settling

North America? How did the English, French, Dutch, and

Spanish colonies differ?

•	 What was daily life like in colonial America for the yeoman

farmers, merchants, artisans, planters, indentured servants,

slaves, and American Indians? How was life different and how

was it similar in New England, the mid-Atlantic, the South, the

West, the Spanish Southwest, and French Louisiana?

•	 How did diverse religious beliefs and practices affect life in the

English colonies and lead to denominationalism and religious

freedom?

15
 
Theme 3 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

•	 What ideas, individuals, motives, practices, and values

influenced economic development in the different regions of

colonial North America and the West Indies?

•	 What were the roles of private property, communal landholding,

the fur trade, the “Protestant work ethic,” the plantation system,

merchants, small farmers, indentured servants, and slaves in the

economies that arose in the European colonies?

•	 What roles did women play in colonial economies?

•	 How did indentured servitude differ from chattel slavery? Why

did slavery come to mean racial or black slavery?

•	 In what ways did slavery in the Americas differ from slavery in

Africa, ancient Greece and Rome, or in other places and times?

Theme 4 

•	 Why did European nations contend for control of North

America? What were the trade routes? What was the extent of

each nation’s empire by 1763?

•	 What kinds of relationships, alliances, and conflicts developed

among American Indian societies, European countries, and

settlers?

•	 What were the causes and results of the French and Indian War

of 1754–63? What was its counterpart in Europe?

•	 Why did English language, culture, ideas, and institutions

become dominant in the colonies?

Period 3: The Revolution and the New Nation (1763–1815) 

Theme 1 

•	 What ideas about the nature of liberty, power, and “natural

rights” contributed to the colonists’ decision to declare their

independence? What were the sources of these ideas?

•	 What British policies led to the revolt? What was the American

response to these events? What were the most important turning

points in the Revolution? Why was the Revolution successful?

16
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

•	 In what ways have the ideas embodied in the Declaration of

Independence served as fundamental and enduring ideas of

American political life? 

•	 What were the political debates regarding independence and the

creation of new state governments and a national government?

Who supported what positions? 

•	 Who were the leaders of the American Revolution? What was 

the role and what was the importance of George Washington,

Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and others in the

revolutionary generation? What ideas about government, sources

of political power, rights of individuals, and political

participation are specified in the Declaration of Independence,

the Articles of Confederation, the Northwest Ordinance, the

Constitution, and the Bill of Rights? How did the ideas in these

documents contribute to a common civic culture? 

•	 What factors and events, such as problems of the Articles of

Confederation and Shays’ Rebellion, led to the Constitutional

Convention? Who were the participants? What key issues did

they debate? What major compromises did they make to create

the Constitution of 1787? 

•	 What are the most important features of the Constitution? How 

did it differ from the Articles of Confederation? How have its 

core civic ideas of individual rights, equal justice under law, and

popular sovereignty become the basis for the nation’s common 

political culture? Why did it become recognized as a model 

political framework? How has it sustained aspirations for

individual freedom and dignity, here and in other nations, for

more than 200 years? 

•	 How does the ratification of the Bill of Rights illustrate the idea

of compromise and change that has been a basic principle of 

American constitutional government? 

•	 What political and legal institutions were created by the

Constitution? How was power distributed among the branches of

the federal government and between federal and state

governments? 

•	 How and why did issues such as slavery, the rights of

individuals, the power of the states, and the nature of federalism

and republicanism divide Americans? How did the Constitution 

17
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

provide avenues for addressing these issues? 

•	 Why did political parties arise (for example, Federalists,

Democrats, and Republicans)? How did the party system

influence the development of democracy? What was the role and

importance of George Washington? Why was the peaceful 

transfer of power following Jefferson’s election such a landmark

event in history? 

•	 How did John Marshall establish as a principle of constitutional

government the judicial review by the Supreme Court of acts of

state and federal governments? What does this mean today? 

Theme 2 

•	 What were the various roles of American Indians, African 

Americans, and men and women from different social and

economic levels in the Revolution? What role did Loyalists play

in the Revolution? 

•	 How did revolutionary rhetoric about equality and civic virtue

produce rising expectations for women, slaves, free blacks, and 

nonproperty-owning men? 

•	 What ideas, beliefs, and values emerged to create a national

culture? How did that culture compare and contrast with regional

cultures in the United States and to the cultural traditions of the 

Spanish borderlands (Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, California, 

and Florida)? 

•	 What reforms and improvements were sought for women,

African Americans, and American Indians in the new nation in 

response to new concepts of liberty as they emerged during the

American Revolution? How did their lack of political power

influence the strategies and successes of reformers? 

Theme 3 

•	 How did colonial economic growth interact with the British

mercantile and American Indian economic systems? 

•	 What economic factors contributed to the colonists’ decision to 

declare their independence? 

•	 What were the effects of the Revolution on economic 

development and institutions? 

18
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Period 4: Expansion and Reform (1801–1861) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

•	 What ideas, values, and practices caused the HamiltonianJeffersonian debate over the formation and direction of the

nation’s economy? What were the results?

Theme 4 

•	 What were the contributions of other nations to America’s

victory in the Revolution?

•	 In what ways did the American Revolution and the establishment

of the United States influence people in other nations? How did

these events reshape the image of America in other countries?

What was the significance of George Washington’s Farewell

Address?

•	 How did the French Revolution affect American domestic and

foreign policy?

Theme 1 

•	 Why did the nation expand across the Appalachian Mountains to

the Pacific coast? What ideas about democracy emerged? Why

did the nation decide to add states and give them equal standing

instead of creating colonies? What controversies arose about

organizing territories and adding states to the union? How and to

what extent were these controversies resolved?

•	 How did the American political culture develop? What

procedures emerged for managing controversy and responding to

changing political and social needs? Who played important roles

in this process?

•	 How did Jefferson and Jackson change the power and practices

of the presidency? What caused the rise of interest-group

politics?

•	 How did the right to vote expand?

•	 How did reform movements challenge assumptions about

slavery, women’s rights, qualifications for citizenship and the

right to vote, and the rights of American Indians?

•	 How did reform movements change political practices, the rights

of individuals, and the meaning of American constitutional

19
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

Theme 2 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

democracy? 

•	 How did landmark Supreme Court decisions affect the

development of the legal system and constitutional government

(for example, Marbury v. Madison and McCulloch v.

Maryland)?

•	 What were the positions of the political parties and their leaders

on economic development, territorial expansion, political

participation, individual rights, states’ rights, slavery, and social

reforms? What was the significance of the Lincoln-Douglas

debates?

•	 What was distinctive about the new American culture? Who

were the principal artistic and intellectual figures (for example,

Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry David

Thoreau, Edgar Allan Poe)? What were their contributions? How

did the new culture draw on, reject, and compare with European

and British culture?

•	 What ideas, traditions, and traits (such as individualism and the

belief in the human capacity to solve problems) came to define

the American character?

•	 What were the characteristics of American Indian and

Southwest-Hispanic cultures? How did African Americans

develop unique cultures in response to slavery? How did free

African Americans, especially in the North, develop their own

institutions and actively seek the abolition of slavery? How did

the cultures of American Indians, Hispanics, and African

Americans adapt and survive?

•	 What groups (such as the Germans and Irish) immigrated to the

United States during this period? Why did they come? Where did

they settle? What impact did they have on the national culture as

they adapted to the American lifestyle?

•	 How did religious revivalism and the idea of human

perfectibility contribute to many reform movements? What was

the role of women in revivalism and reform?

•	 What ideas about education emerged, what institutions were

created, and how did the increased emphasis on education

20
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

influence society? 

Theme 3 

•	 How did geographical factors, technological innovations,

individual inventors, and entrepreneurialism contribute to rapid

economic growth and important economic developments such as

the specialization and division of labor, the manufacturing

system, the westward movement, “King Cotton,” and the

expansion of slavery? What were the costs and benefits of these

economic developments?

•	 Why did many people experience growing prosperity? How did

their prosperity influence society?

•	 How did the growth of the factory system affect living

conditions, working conditions, and where people lived?

•	 How did government subsidies, the growth of a national

transportation system, tariffs, immigrant labor, and foreign

investments influence economic development?

Theme 4 

•	 How and why did the United States expand its boundaries? What

was the Monroe Doctrine? Who were the chief advocates of

territorial expansion? What were the major events in territorial

expansion? What was the idea of Manifest Destiny? Who were

its supporters and opponents?

•	 How did the United States influence revolutionary movements in

the Caribbean and Latin America? How did those movements

affect the United States?

•	 How did the United States attempt to prevent European nations

from regaining control of Latin America? Who were the leaders?

Period 5: Crisis of the Union: Civil War and 

Reconstruction (1850–1877)

Theme 1 

•	 What role did the process of compromise play in the disputes

about slavery, the nature of the Union, individual rights, states’

rights, and the power of the federal government? What caused

21
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Theme 2 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the outbreak of the Civil War? What were the roles of Webster, 

Clay, Calhoun, Douglas, Lincoln, and Seward? What were

Lincoln’s positions on key issues during this period? 

•	 How did the major political parties and leaders deal with

controversies about abolition of slavery, constitutional rights,

and economic development? 

•	 What were the major events and turning points in the Civil War?

What was the influence of civilian and military leaders (for 

example, Lincoln, Davis, Grant, and Lee)? 

•	 What actions did African Americans take before, during, and

after the war to secure their freedom and rights as citizens? 

•	 How did the Civil War and Reconstruction change conceptions

of the Union and the power of the federal government? What

were the influences of Lincoln’s presidency? 

•	 What primary sources exemplify the key ideas and issues of this

period (for example, the Gettysburg Address, Emancipation 

Proclamation, Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, “Battle

Hymn of the Republic,” “Bonnie Blue Flag,” and “Dixie”)? 

•	 How was the U.S. Constitution changed after the Civil War (for 

example, the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments)? How did the

changes affect democratic ideas and practices and contribute to 

achieving democratic ideals? How did decisions by the Supreme 

Court undermine the effectiveness of these amendments? 

•	 What were the goals of radical and moderate reconstructionists?

How and why did they succeed and fail? 

•	 How did the social and cultural traditions of the prewar North

and South differ? 

•	 What was the role of religion in the debate over slavery? 

•	 In what ways did the Civil War and Reconstruction challenge

earlier ideas and alter relations between races, classes, and 

genders? 

•	 What individuals and groups played significant roles in the Civil

War and Reconstruction? 

•	 How did post-bellum black communities differ from slave and 

antebellum free black communities? 

22
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Period 6: The Development of Modern America (1865– 

1920) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Theme 3 

•	 How did slavery as an economic system affect the economy and

the social and class systems in the North, the South, and the

West? 

•	 How did the economic strengths and weaknesses of each side

affect the outcome of the Civil War? 

•	 What scientific and technological developments affected the 

economy, the Civil War, and Reconstruction? 

•	 How did Reconstruction change the economic life of the 

South? 

Theme 4 

•	 How did Union and Confederate diplomacy affect the Civil

War? 

•	 In what ways did other nations influence the course and outcome

of the Civil War? 

•	 How did the Civil War affect Europe, Latin America, and

American Indian nations? 

•	 How did the Civil War and Reconstruction influence the 

nation’s image in other countries? 

Theme 1 

•	 How did the movements of populism and progressivism lead to

changes in basic assumptions about the practice of democracy?

What led to the 16th Amendment? 

•	 Who were the leaders in these reform efforts? How did they

affect events? 

•	 What gains and losses in individual rights resulted (for example,

suffrage)? How did these changes relate to other reform efforts?

Who was left out of these reform efforts? 

•	 How did the role of government change in relation to business

and labor? What were the issues and how were they resolved? 

•	 What groups came to the United States (for example, Italians, 

Jews, Russians, and Poles)? Why did they come? 

•	 What was the debate over American ownership of colonies after 

23
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the Spanish-American War and what was the influence of this 

debate on the nature of American government? 

Theme 2 

•	 What was the concept of social Darwinism? How was it used by 

both liberals and conservatives? 

•	 How did westward expansion and the 19th-century belief in

progress affect American ideas and society? Who advocated 

westward expansion? Who advocated social change and what

changes did they advocate? 

•	 What was the impact of westward expansion on American Indian 

and Hispanic societies? How did these groups respond? 

•	 What was the influence of Mexican culture on the Southwest? 

•	 What factors influenced immigration? How did the image of

America as a land of opportunity develop? How did European

immigration patterns change? What was the experience of newly

arriving groups such as the Swedes, Norwegians, Jews, Poles,

Russians, and Italians? What was the influence of European

immigrants on the United States? 

•	 Why did Asians immigrate to the United States? What were their

experiences after their arrival? 

•	 How did the forces of industrialization, immigration, technology,

and urbanization change popular culture, the definitions of

“What is American?,” and family life? 

•	 Why and how did public education develop and expand? 

•	 How did women respond to the opportunities and problems

produced by urbanization and industrialization? 

Theme 3 

•	 What accounts for the surging growth of the American economy

in this era? What were the main features of industrialization, and

what were the benefits and costs of this economic development? 

•	 What basic assumptions define socialism and communism? 

What were their followers’ critiques of the industrial economy?

What was the economic critique of these approaches to

economic organization? What influence did these philosophies

have on the American economy? 

•	 Who were the leaders of industrialization? What were their 

roles? What was their impact on society? 

24
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

•	 How did American industrial achievements and developments

influence the rest of the world? How did industrialization in 

other countries affect the United States? 

•	 How did the American labor movement develop? Who were its

leaders? What were its goals? 

•	 What were major conflicts between big business and labor?

What was the role of the federal government in resolving such

disputes? 

•	 What was the influence of increased regulation on business? 

•	 Who were the innovators? What major scientific and 

technological achievements and developments influenced

industrialization? Discuss the importance of Thomas Alva

Edison, the Wright brothers, and other inventors and pioneers of

technology. 

•	 How were Americans’ work habits, living conditions, and

attitudes shaped by industrialization and urbanization? 

•	 How did economic growth and industrialization affect the

environment? What were the goals of the early

environmentalists? 

•	 How was agriculture affected by technological development?

How did it contribute to industrialization and urbanization? 

Theme 4 

•	 Why did the United States expand its role in world affairs in the

late 19th and early 20th centuries? 

•	 Who were the champions and critics of expansion? 

•	 In what ways did the United States expand its territory, its

diplomatic importance, and its military power? 

•	 In what ways did other nations respond to the expanding

American role in world affairs? 

Period 7: Modern America and the World Wars (1914– 

1945) 

Theme 1 

•	 Why did the United States decide to enter the First World War? 

25
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What were the major turning points in this war? Who were the

leaders (Woodrow Wilson, Kaiser Wilhelm II, etc.)? What 

happened in the First World War? 

•	 How did politics in the 1920s reflect both the advancement and 

the retreat of important democratic practices? 

•	 Why was the Constitution amended to ban the sale/consumption

of alcohol? Who supported Prohibition? Why was the

amendment repealed? 

•	 How did women’s suffrage become enacted as an amendment to

the Constitution? Who were the leaders of the women’s suffrage

movement (Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Carrie

Chapman Catt)? Why did some people oppose women’s

suffrage? 

•	 How did the Depression affect American politics? How did the

Depression change assumptions about the nature of federalism 

and the role of government? 

•	 How did Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal legislation change

the role of the federal government in relation to social welfare

and individual rights? Which new agencies were created and

which of them became a lasting part of American government? 

•	 What were the key events in the Second World War (for 

example, Pearl Harbor, the rise of Nazism/Hitler, concentration 

camps, the Holocaust, the atomic bomb)? Who were the leaders

(Hitler, Stalin, Tojo, Mussolini, Churchill, Roosevelt,

MacArthur, Eisenhower)? Why did the United States get

involved in the Second World War? 

•	 How did landmark Supreme Court decisions reflect changes in

the nature of federalism, the rights of individuals, and the power

and duties of government (for example, Gitlow v. New York, 

Near v. Minnesota, and National Labor Relations Board v. Jones 

and Laughlin)? Why did Franklin D. Roosevelt try to “pack” the 

Supreme Court? 

Theme 2 

•	 Who were the artistic and literary figures (for example, Ernest 

Hemingway, Sinclair Lewis, John Steinbeck, Langston Hughes, 

and F. Scott Fitzgerald) that contributed to national culture and

to distinct ethnic and regional cultures? How did World War I, 

26
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the Depression, the Dust Bowl, and World War II affect writers

and artists? 

•	 Why were restrictive immigration policies enacted? What groups

were restricted and what groups were allowed? Why did large

numbers of people continue to seek opportunities to immigrate to 

the United States? 

•	 What were the social and cultural consequences of the 

immigration policies and internal migration? What developments

defined the Roaring ʼ20s the Harlem Renaissance, and the 

Depression era? 

•	 What was the controversy over scientific views of evolution?

What was the Scopes trial? 

•	 What is the importance of the New Deal in American social 

reform? What were the key policies? Who developed the policies

and who were the critics? 

•	 How did technological innovations such as the radio, movies,

and automobiles affect the lives of ordinary Americans? 

•	 What was the immediate and long-range impact of World War II 

on the home front? 

Theme 3 

•	 What effect did wartime economies have on the composition of

the American workforce and on the shift from a rural society to

an urban society? 

•	 How did wartime economic innovation and technological

developments change the American economy and American 

society? Who were the innovators? 

•	 What factors led to the growth of the American economy in the

1920s? To what extent was growing prosperity a reality for

Americans from various levels of society? 

•	 What caused the Depression? How did Herbert Hoover and

Franklin D. Roosevelt respond? How did it alter ideas, values,

and practices of the American economic system? What was its

impact on the lives of ordinary Americans? 

•	 How did the Depression and the New Deal influence economic

theory and practice and the role of the government in the

economy? 

•	 How did workers and labor leaders shape the discussion of 

27
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

economic theory and employer policies and practices? 

Theme 4 

•	 How did events in Europe and Asia, such as the outbreak of the

First World War, the Russian Revolution, the Nazis’ rise to

power, the Axis alliance, the Nazi-Soviet pact, and Japanese

territorial expansion influence U.S. history? 

•	 How was life in the United States affected by expansion and 

participation in the First World War? 

•	 What was the role of American democratic ideals in the nation’s 

entry into the First World War? 

•	 What was the role of American democratic ideals in the nation’s 

entry into the Second World War? What was the relationship

between the United States and the USSR during the war? Why 

did this relationship end after the war? 

•	 How did isolationism influence American foreign policy

between 1914 and 1945? 

•	 What roles did national leaders (for example, Kaiser Wilhelm II, 

Woodrow Wilson, Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, Neville

Chamberlain, Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dwight 

Eisenhower, and Hideki Tojo) play in shaping military and 

foreign policy? 

•	 Why did some Americans oppose involvement in the First and

Second World Wars? 

•	 How did U.S. policy and activities in the peacemaking process

compare after each war? Why did the failure to solve problems

after the First World War lay the groundwork for another war?

How did U.S. policy after the Second World War differ from its 

policy after the First World War? 

•	 What international alliances and agreements resulted from the

wars? What were the goals of the League of Nations and the

United Nations? Why did the League of Nations fail? 

Period 8: Contemporary America (1945 to the present) 

Theme 1 

•	 How have the ideas of the founding period about the nature of 

28
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the government, liberty, and sources of political power been

maintained and changed? Why do the important core civic ideas

of individual rights, equal rights under law, and popular

sovereignty continue to be forces in American society? 

•	 How did the Second World War affect the movement for racial 

equality? 

•	 What political issues have been most significant in contemporary

America (for example, abortion; affirmative action; anti-war 

protests; civil liberties; civil rights for minorities, women, and 

those with disabilities; environmentalism; national security; 

reducing government regulation and taxes; and terrorism)? How

have issues and controversies been resolved in the American 

democratic political system? 

•	 How did Harry Truman respond to Soviet military challenges in

Europe and Greece? How did Dwight Eisenhower respond to

McCarthyism and the Brown decision? How did John F.

Kennedy respond to the Cuban missile crisis and to the civil 

rights movement? How did Lyndon B. Johnson attempt to

balance the “Great Society” domestic reforms while expanding 

American involvement in the Vietnam War? How did Richard 

Nixon change the nation’s relations with China but lose his

presidency because of Watergate? How did Ronald Reagan 

hasten the collapse of the Soviet Union? What caused George

H.W. Bush to initiate Operation Desert Storm? What was the

impact of welfare reform under the Clinton administration? What 

were the policies of George W. Bush following the September 

11, 2001, terrorist attacks? 

•	 How have landmark Supreme Court decisions affected

constitutional rights, political controversies, and the relationships

of individuals and groups (for example, Brown v. Board of 

Education, Gideon v. Wainwright, Abington School District v. 

Schempp, Reynolds v. Sims, Miranda v. Arizona, and Roe v. 

Wade)? 

•	 What is the role of political leadership in contemporary politics?

What individuals or groups have taken leadership roles? What

strategies and political philosophies have they pursued to achieve

power and resolve political issues? 

29
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Theme 2 

•	 How has immigration policy changed in the contemporary

United States? What groups are immigrating in large numbers

(Hispanics, Asians)? Why? 

•	 How has cultural diversity affected education, media, and

popular culture? 

•	 How have the structures of families changed in contemporary

American society? 

•	 What has been the role of the media in contemporary America? 

•	 How have the civil rights movement and the women’s movement 

affected individuals and American society? 

•	 What is the influence of literary figures in contemporary

America? 

Theme 3 

•	 What caused the general economic boom and growing prosperity

in the post-Second World War era? 

•	 What have been key technological innovations (for example,

transistors, television, computers, jet airplanes, penicillin, 

plastics, the hydrogen bomb, and space exploration)? Who were

the innovators? How have these innovations influenced society? 

•	 How has the labor movement influenced the economy and 

society? 

•	 How has technological change influenced work habits, the

composition of the workforce, and economic productivity? 

•	 How have mass production, the consumer economy,

entrepreneurship, and changing economic conditions affected

American society? 

Theme 4 

•	 How and why did the United States become the pre-eminent 

economic and military power in the world? How did U.S.

participation in the First and Second World Wars influence the

rest of the world? How and why did the Soviet Union collapse? 

•	 What combination of ideology, economics, historical

circumstances, individual viewpoints, and other factors shaped

the history of the Cold War? What factors led to its end? 

30
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

•	 What were the foreign policy objectives of the major world

powers after the Second World War? What were the major

events and conflicts (Hungarian Revolution of 1956, Berlin

Airlift, Marshall Plan, Suez crisis, collapse of the USSR)? What

led to these policies? What influence did domestic and foreign

leaders have on these policies (for example, Harry Truman, John

Foster Dulles, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Dwight Eisenhower,

John Kennedy, Fidel Castro, Nikita Khrushchev, Richard Nixon,

Jimmy Carter, Golda Meir, Anwar Sadat, Margaret Thatcher,

Lyndon Johnson, Ronald Reagan, Mikhail Gorbachev, George 

H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Colin Powell, and George W. Bush)? 

•	 What were the main features of U.S. foreign policy during the

Cold War era? Who advanced specific proposals? 

•	 How did policies toward nations in Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin

America, and the Middle East change during the Cold War era?

What were the causes and results of the Korean War and the 

Vietnam War? In what ways did the Cold War strengthen or

weaken American democracy, the American economy, and

American military practices? 

•	 What roles have public opinion and public protest played in 

shaping American foreign policy? 

•	 How have the end of the Cold War, the dissolution of the Soviet

Union, the democratic revolution in certain countries of Eastern

Europe, and conflicts in the Middle East reshaped American 

foreign policy? 

•	 What is the significance of the United Nations in the world

today? 

The distribution of the test questions across historical periods for

grades 4, 8, and 12 appears in table 4. 

Ways of Knowing and Thinking About U.S. History 

The study of United States history engages students’ minds with

the facts and complexities that give insight into the development of

the nation. Historical study requires specialized ways of knowing

and thinking, habits of mind, and cognitive processes that typify

historians’ approaches to the past. These habits of mind require

almost simultaneous exercise of lower- and higher-order cognitive 

31
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

skills such as recall, analysis, judgment, application, and evaluation.

This assessment identifies and defines the cognitive processes of

historical knowing and thinking as follows: 

•	 Historical Knowledge and Perspective—Knowing and 

understanding people, events, concepts, themes, movements,

contexts, and historical sources; sequencing events; recognizing

multiple perspectives and seeing an era or movement through the 

eyes of different groups; and developing a general

conceptualization of U.S. history. 

•	 Historical Analysis and Interpretation—Explaining issues,

identifying historical patterns, establishing cause-and-effect 

relationships, finding value statements, establishing significance,

applying historical knowledge, weighing evidence to draw sound

conclusions, making defensible generalizations, and rendering

insightful accounts of the past. 

Table 4. Distribution of the exercise pool across historical periods: grades 4, 8, 

and 12 

Periods 

Grade Levels 

Beginnings– 

1607 

1607 

– 

1763 

1763 

– 

1815 

1801 

– 

1861 

1850 

– 

1877 

1865 

– 

1920 

1914 

– 

1945 

1945 to 

Present 

Grade 4 20% 15% 15% 15% 10% 5% 5% 15% 

Grade 8 5% 10% 20% 15% 20% 10% 10% 10% 

Grade 12 5% 10% 15% 10% 10% 15% 15% 20% 

Perspective 

The following diagram illustrates the interaction of these two

domains in the process of knowing and thinking about history: 

32
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The NAEP U.S. history assessment will include a variety of items

in both cognitive domains. Following is a description of the types of

exercises developed to assess the cognitive domains. It is important

to note that assessing higher-order thinking processes will require 

students to demonstrate that they have a fund of knowledge and

understanding of historical periods and themes. Such higher-order 

questions will assess more than just skillful reading and fact-finding. 

1. Exercises assessing Historical Knowledge and Perspective will 

examine students’ ability to identify and define specific factual

information, themes, movements, and general principles

operating in U.S. history; to deduce meaning; and to 

comprehend patterns. These exercises will test students’ ability

to: 

•	 Name, recognize, list, identify, and give examples of people,

places, events, concepts, and movements. 

•	 Place specifics in a chronological framework and construct

and label historical periods. 

•	 Define historical themes and give examples of the ways

themes relate to specific factual information.
 

•	 Describe the past from the perspectives of various men and

women of the time. Explain the perspective of an author of a

primary source document. Describe different perspectives

related to a historical issue or event. 

•	 Summarize the contributions of individuals and groups to U.S.

history; summarize the meaning of historical sources, such as

original documents, speeches, cartoons, artifacts, photos, art,

music, architecture, literature, drama, dance, popular culture,

biographies, journals, folklore, historic sites and places, and

oral history narratives; and link these people and sources to 

general themes. 

2. Exercises assessing Historical Analysis and Interpretation will 

examine students’ ability to distinguish value judgments in 

historical information, weigh evidence, synthesize information,

apply knowledge, make judgments, formulate generalizations,

and draw conclusions. Therefore, these exercises should ensure 

that the assessment tasks will address the whole range of 

33
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

historical thinking. These exercises will probe students’ ability 

to: 

•	 Specify and explain cause-and-effect relationships and

connect contemporary events to their origins in the past.
 

•	 Categorize information and develop strategies for organizing a

large body of facts. 

•	 Examine multiple causes of historical developments. 

•	 Explain points of view, biases, and value statements in

historical sources.
 

•	 Determine the significance of people, events, and historical 

sources. 

•	 Weigh and judge different views of the past as advanced by 

historical figures themselves, historians, and present-day 

commentators and public figures. 

•	 Demonstrate that the interpretation and meaning of the past

are open to change as new information and perspectives 

emerge. 

•	 Develop sound generalizations and defend these 

generalizations with persuasive arguments.
 

•	 Make comparisons and recognize the limitations of

generalizations.
 

•	 Apply knowledge, draw conclusions, and support those

conclusions with convincing evidence.
 

The distribution of the assessment exercise pool across the 

cognitive domains for grades 4, 8, and 12 appears in table 5. 

Table 5. Distribution of the exercise pool across cognitive domains: grades

4, 8, and 12 

Grade Levels 

Cognitive

Domains 

Historical 

Knowledge and

Perspective 

Historical 

Analysis and

Interpretation 

Grade 4 40% 60% 

Grade 8 35% 65% 

Grade 12 30% 70% 

34
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Three: Desired Attributes 

of the Assessment and Its Exercises 

and Items 

Too often history has been perceived as dull memorization of

an endless series of facts, events, and people long-since dead. 

By including thoughtful and profound questions, the

committees hope to bring an aura of intellectual excitement to the 

assessment process. The assessment is intended to present a variety

of questions that provide opportunities for students to demonstrate

their grasp of specific detail while showing a deep understanding of

the context of events and an ability to employ logical historical 

thought processes. The development of assessment items will take

into account issues of fairness and the need to avoid cultural and 

socio-economic biases. 

•	 New assessment options are available for use in the

assessment. The National Assessment of Educational Progress

(NAEP) assessments in the 1980s were confined largely to 

multiple-choice exercises, but more recent assessments have 

introduced open-ended and performance exercises. Therefore,

the U.S. history assessment should include both the traditional 

multiple-choice and the newer open-ended questions. In 

addition, special studies should examine various types of

innovative assessment approaches, including portfolios and

cooperative learning activities. 

•	 Multiple-choice questions should constitute no more than 50

percent of the assessment. Such questions are desirable

because they take up a relatively brief amount of assessment 

time, are easy to score, and allow for broad content coverage. 

The multiple-choice items on the assessment should include 

not only recall and comprehension questions but also a large

proportion of questions that require higher-level thinking 

skills. 

•	 Open-ended questions, the other portion of the test, should

concentrate on measuring students’ depth of learning in U.S. 

35
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

history. Both short-answer and extended-response exercises 

should require students to marshal a body of facts and

organize and express their thoughts. Recognizing that many 

students do not perform well on test items requiring long

written responses, the item development committee should

strive to construct the questions so that students can 

demonstrate performance on some items without writing 

extensively. 

•	 The study of history requires the use of a variety of resources.

To reflect the richness of history and historical sources, the

assessment should use a variety of stimulus materials 

appropriate to U.S. history. In both the multiple-choice and 

open-ended exercises, the stimulus materials should include 

copies of primary documents, graphs, political cartoons,

charts, photographs, pictures, maps, and timelines. The types

and complexity of materials should be appropriate for students

at each grade level, but a variety of types should be used in

varying grades. Stimulus materials and documents must be

chosen with the understanding that many resources are not

equally available to all schools in all areas. 

Students will be asked to respond to stimulus materials in a

variety of ways: 

•	 Short answers—Responses to short-answer items may require 

lists, phrases, or sentences. 

•	 Extended responses—Extended responses call on students to 

generate more developed arguments, analyses, or explanations

and may require the creation of nontextual components such

as charts, maps, graphs, and timelines. 

Open-ended exercises should be scored according to rubrics that

allow students to receive partial credit. Rubrics used to score 

extended-response exercises should be constructed to evaluate

students’ historical knowledge and historical understanding, as well

as analytical skills. Careful reading and clever thinking alone will not

be sufficient to answer the extended-response questions. The item

development panel should develop the scoring criteria prior to the

pilot test of the assessment. Extensive training of skilled raters will

be essential to ensure that the criteria are applied consistently and do 

36
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

not confound students’ historical knowledge and thinking with the

ways in which they express themselves. 

In constructing the assessment exercises, the item developers

must ensure that the items are congruent with the framework and

correspond to the NAEP achievement levels described below. 

Achievement Levels in U.S. History 

The assessment should be constructed to measure and report

student performance according to three levels of achievement— 

Basic, Proficient, and Advanced—as required by NAEP policy. 

The following are the Governing Board-approved achievement 

levels for students participating in the 1994, 2001, 2006, 2010, and 

2014 NAEP U.S. history assessment in grades 4, 8, and 12. Due to 

limited funding, the Governing Board decided to conduct the

assessment at only grade 8 for 2014. Within each grade, it is

assumed that every higher achievement level incorporates and builds

on the preceding levels. 

Note that the levels suggested for fourth grade are based on the

assumption that most students will not have had a formal course in 

U.S. history. Note: Depending on the nature of the framework

changes, we will review the descriptions of the achievement levels.

However, the specific changes to the framework should not affect the

more general descriptions of achievement levels. 

Grade 4 

Basic—Fourth-grade students performing at the Basic level should 

be able to identify and describe a few of the most familiar people,

places, events, ideas, and documents in American history. They 

should be able to explain the reasons for celebrating most national

holidays, have some familiarity with the geography of their own 

state and the United States, and be able to express in writing a few

ideas about a familiar theme in American history. 

Proficient—Fourth-grade students performing at the Proficient level 

should be able to identify, describe, and comment on the significance

of many historical people, places, ideas, events, and documents.

They should be able to interpret information from a variety of 

37
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

sources, including texts, maps, pictures, and timelines. They should

be able to construct a simple timeline from data. These students

should recognize the role of invention and technological change in

history. They should also recognize the ways in which geographic

and environmental factors have influenced life and work. 

Advanced—Fourth-grade students performing at the Advanced level 

should have a beginning understanding of the relationships between

people, places, ideas, events, and documents. They should know

where to look for information, including reference books, maps, 

local museums, interviews with family and neighbors, and other

sources. They should be able to use historical themes to organize

and interpret historical topics and to incorporate insights from

beyond the classroom into their understanding of history. These

students should understand and be able to explain the role of

invention and technological change in history. They should also

understand and be able to explain the ways in which geographic and 

environmental factors have influenced life and work. 

Grade 8 

Basic—Eighth-grade students performing at the Basic level should 

be able to identify and place in context a range of historical people,

places, events, ideas, and documents. They should be able to 

distinguish between primary and secondary sources. They should

have a beginning understanding of the diversity of the American 

people and the ways in which people from a wide variety of national

and cultural heritages have become part of a single nation. Eighthgrade students at the Basic level should also have a beginning

understanding of the fundamental political ideas and institutions of 

American life and their historical origins. They should be able to

explain the significance of some major historical events. 

Proficient—Eighth-grade students performing at the Proficient level 

should be able to explain the significance of people, places, events,

ideas, and documents, and to recognize the connection between

people and events within historical contexts. They should understand 

and be able to explain the opportunities, perspectives, and challenges

associated with a diverse cultural population. They should

incorporate geographic, technological, and other considerations in

their understanding of events and should have knowledge of 

38
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

significant political ideas and institutions. They should be able to

communicate ideas about historical themes while citing evidence 

from primary and secondary sources to support their conclusions. 

Advanced—Eighth-grade students performing at the Advanced level 

should recognize significant themes and movements in history and

begin to understand particular events in light of these themes and 

movements. They should have an awareness of continuity and

change over time and be able to draw relevant analogies between

past events and present-day situations. They should be able to frame

questions about historical topics and use multiple sources to develop 

historical generalizations and interpretations. They should be able to 

explain the importance of historical themes, including some

awareness of their political, social, and economic dimensions. 

Grade 12 

Basic—Twelfth-grade students performing at the Basic level should 

be able to identify the significance of many people, places, events,

dates, ideas, and documents in U.S. history. They should also

recognize the importance of unity and diversity in the social and

cultural history of the United States and have an awareness of

America’s changing relationships with the rest of the world. They

should have a sense of continuity and change in history and be able

to relate relevant experience from the past to their understanding of

contemporary issues. They should recognize that history is subject to

interpretation and should understand the role of evidence in making a

historical argument. 

Proficient—Twelfth-grade students performing at the Proficient 

level should understand particular people, places, events, ideas, and

documents in historical context, with some awareness of the

political, economic, geographic, social, religious, technological, and

ideological factors that shape historical settings. They should be

able to communicate reasoned interpretations of past events, using

historical evidence effectively to support their positions. Their

written arguments should reflect some in-depth grasp of issues and 

should refer to both primary and secondary sources. 

Advanced—Twelfth-grade students achieving at the Advanced level 

should demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of events and 

39
 
 

 

 

 

 

sources of U.S. history. Recognizing that history is subject to

interpretation, they should be able to evaluate historical claims

critically in light of the evidence. They should understand that

important issues and themes have been addressed differently at 

different times and that America’s political, social, and cultural 

traditions have changed over time. They should be able to write wellreasoned arguments on complex historical topics and draw on a wide

range of sources to inform their conclusions. 

40
 
Appendix A 

NAEP U.S. History Framework Project—Staff, 

Committee Members, and Subcontractors 

41
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Staff 

Affiliations as of 1991-1992 

Ramsay Selden, Director

Student Education Assessment 

Center 

Council of Chief State School 

Officers (CCSSO) 

Thomas Gregory Ward

Consensus Coordinator 

CCSSO 

Bonnie L. Verrico 

Administrative Assistant 

CCSSO 

Steering Committee

Members 

Marjorie Bingham

Teacher of U.S. History

St. Louis Park Senior High

School 

Minnetonka, Minnesota 

Austin Creel 

Professor of Religion

University of Florida

Department of Religion

Gainesville, Florida 

Thomas S. Dickinson 

Editor 

Middle School Journal 

National Middle School 

Association 

Columbus, Ohio 

Tom Dunthorn 

Social Studies Consultant 

Florida Department of

Education 

Tallahassee, Florida 

Gerald M. Eads II 

Division Chief 

Department of Assessment and

Testing

Virginia State Department of

Education 

Richmond, Virginia 

William Everdell 

Dean of Humanities and 

Teacher of Grades 4–12 

Saint Ann’s School 

Brooklyn Heights, New York 

Elizabeth Fox-Genovese 

Eleonore Raoul Professor of the 

Humanities 

Institute for Women’s Studies 

Emory University

Atlanta, Georgia 

Sandra French 

Parent 

National PTA 

Ellicott City, Maryland 

Art Gosling

Superintendent

Arlington County Schools

Arlington, Virginia 

Byron Hollinshead 

Chairman 

Americana Magazine, Inc.

New York, New York 

Bill Honig

Superintendent

California State Department of

Education 

Sacramento, California 

43
 
Arnita A. Jones 

Executive Secretary

Organization of American

Historians 

Bloomington, Indiana 

Leon Litwack 

Professor of History

University of California

Berkeley, California 

Ruth Wattenberg

Coordinator, AFT Education for

Democracy Project

American Federation of 

Teachers 

Washington, D.C. 

Robert D. Reynolds, Jr.

Archivist 

The George Meany Memorial 

Archives 

Silver Spring, Maryland 

Armstead L. Robinson 

Associate Professor of History

Director of the Carter 

Woodson Institute University of

Virginia

Charlottesville, Virginia 

Everett V. Samuelson 

Professor of Educational 

Administration 

College of Education 

University of Idaho

Moscow, Idaho 

Diane Stallings

Supervisory Park Ranger

Colonial National Historical 

Park 

Newport News, Virginia 

August Steinhilber

General Counsel 

National School Boards 

Association 

Alexandria, Virginia 

Kathleen Hunter 

National Trust for Historic 

Preservation 

Washington, D.C. 

Carolyn Yoder

Editor in Chief 

Cobblestone Magazine

Peterborough, New Hampshire 

Sandra Harp

Member 

Minneapolis Board of Education

Minneapolis, Minnesota 

Karol Wolgemuth

Fourth-Grade Teacher 

Greenview Knolls Elementary

School 

Great Mills, Maryland 

James B. Gardner (Ex Officio)

Deputy Executive Director

American Historical Association 

Washington, D.C. 

Frances Haley (Ex Officio)

Executive Director 

National Council for the Social 

Studies 

Washington, D.C. 

Elaine Reed (Ex Officio*)

Executive Secretary

National Council for History

Education 

Westlake, Ohio

(*Replaced Paul Gagnon on 12/2/91) 

44
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Planning Committee

Members 

Carol Berkin 

Professor of History

Baruch College

Department of History

New York, New York 

William Branch 

Teacher of U.S. History and

Political Science 

Evanston Township High

School #202 

Bellwood, Illinois 

Stewart Caffey

Teacher of U.S. History

Jefferies Junior High

Comanche Independent School

District 

Comanche, Texas 

Pedro Castillo 

Associate Professor of History

University of California, Santa

Cruz 

Oakes College

Santa Cruz, California 

Charlotte Crabtree* 

Director, National Center for

History in the Schools

University of California, Los

Angeles

Los Angeles, California

(*Served on planning committee from September 

1991–March 1992. Appointed to National

Assessment Governing Board on 3/5/92.) 

Alberta Sebolt George

Executive Vice President and 

Chief Operating Officer

Sturbridge Village

Sturbridge, Massachusetts 

George M. Gregory

Supervisor of Educational

Programs

New York State Education 

Department

Albany, New York 

Claudia Hoone 

Fourth-Grade Teacher 

Elementary School #58

Indianapolis, Indiana 

Jean Jamgochian

Teacher of Upper Elementary

Grades 

Haycock Gifted and Talented

Center 

Falls Church, Virginia 

Richard Kirkendall 

Bullitt Professor of History

University of Washington

History Department

Seattle, Washington 

Linda Levstik 

Professor of Education 

University of Kentucky

Lexington, Kentucky 

Tedd Levy

Teacher of U.S. History

Nathan Hale Middle School 

Norwalk, Connecticut 

Earl Lewis 

Associate Professor of History

and Afro-American Studies 

Center for Afro-American and 

African Studies 

University of Michigan

Ann Arbor, Michigan 

45
 
Glenabah Martinez 

Eighth-Grade Teacher of U.S. 

History

Rio Grande High School

Albuquerque, New Mexico 

John Patrick 

Director of the Social Studies 

Development Center

Indiana University

Bloomington, Indiana 

Joyce Stevos

Director of Program and Staff

Development

Providence School Department

Providence, Rhode Island 

Robert Summerville 

Curriculum Consultant for 

Social Studies 

Alabama State Department of

Education 

Secondary Instructional

Services 

Montgomery, Alabama 

Stephan Thernstrom

Winthrop Professor of History

Harvard University

Cambridge, Massachusetts 

Lawana Trout 

Professor of English Emeritus

Central State University

Chicago, Illinois 

Reed Ueda 

Associate Professor of History

Tufts University

Medford, Massachusetts 

Jon Wakelyn

Professor of History 

Catholic University

Washington, D.C. 

Ronald G. Walters 

Professor of History

Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, Maryland 

Subcontractors 

American Institutes for 

Research 

Judy Mitchell

Associate Research Scientist 

Palo Alto, California 

American Historical 

Association 

Noralee Frankel (Task Force

Chair)

Assistant Director for Women’s 

and Minority Interests

Washington, D.C. 

National Council for History

Education 

Theodore Rabb (Task Force

Chair)

Professor of History

Princeton University

Princeton, New Jersey 

National Council for the 

Social Studies 

Fay Metcalf (Task Force Chair)

Consultant for Social Studies 

Education 

Mesa, Arizona 

46
 
Appendix B 

Released Items From the NAEP U.S. History 

Assessment 

47
 
Note: Scoring guides and other information can be found at 

www.nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard under NAEP Questions. In 

the sample items below, the correct answer to the multiplechoice question is indicated by a “�” symbol. 

Grade 4 

1.	 Suppose that you are traveling with ONE of the explorers 

whose route is shown on the map. 

Write the name of the explorer that you are traveling with.

What is the area you are exploring?

Explain why your explorations were important.
 

[Percent essential: 11% Partial: 39%] 

49
 
Questions 2–3 refer to the picture above. 

2.	 What are the people in the picture protesting against? 

a.	 French fur trade with American Indians 

b.	 Colonial treatment of American Indians 

c.	 British control of colonial shipping companies 

�	 British taxation of the colonists 

[Percent correct: 21%] 

3.	 The event shown in the picture helped lead directly to the 

a.	 adoption of the Bill of Rights 

�	 American Revolution 

c.	 Great Compromise 

d.	 French and Indian War 

[Percent correct: 35%] 

4.	 The document that contains the basic rules used to run the 

United States government is 

a.	 the Declaration of Independence 

b.	 Magna Carta 

c.	 the Mayflower Compact 

�	 the Constitution 

50
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Percent correct: 27%] 

Questions 5–6 refer to the part of the song below. 

Follow the Drinkin’ Gourd 

Follow the drinkin’ gourd;

Follow the drinkin’ gourd,

For the old man is awaitin’ for to carry you to freedom

If you follow the drinkin’ gourd.
 

The river bank will make a mighty good road,

The dead trees will show you the way,

Left foot, peg foot travellin’ on;

Follow the drinkin’ gourd.
 

5. In the song, “following the drinkin’ gourd” means to 

� use a group of stars (the Big Dipper) as a guide 

b. never go out at night 

c. never travel long distances alone 

d. share your food and drink with others 

[Percent correct: 47%] 

6. Why did African Americans originally sing this song? 

a. It helped teach children to read and write. 

b. It celebrated American independence. 

� It gave directions about how to escape from slavery. 

d. It was written by slaves in Africa. 

[Percent correct: 42%] 

51
 
These pictures show three common forms of transportation in the 

United States 100 years ago. 

7.	 Name one form of transportation that is common now in the

United States, and explain how it is different from the forms of

transportation shown below. 

[Percent essential: 24% Partial: 9%] 

8.	 What is the purpose of the Bill of Rights? 

a.	 To say how much Americans should pay in taxes 

�	 To protect freedoms like freedom of speech 

c.	 To describe the jobs of the President and Congress 

d.	 To make Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States 

[Percent correct: 45%] 

9.	 “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for

mankind.” This statement was first made when 

a.	 Columbus arrived in the Americas 

b.	 Thomas Edison invented the light bulb 

c.	 Lewis and Clark saw the Pacific 

�	 Neil Armstrong first stepped on the moon 

[Percent correct: 61%] 

10. You are writing a history report about an old town. What kinds of 

historical things could you learn about the old town from its

cemetery? 

Name two historical things you could learn. 

[Percent partial: 16% Inappropriate: 28%] 

52
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11. Imagine you could use a time machine to visit the past. You 

have landed in Philadelphia in the summer of 1776. 

Describe an important event that is happening. 

[Percent partial: 28% Inappropriate: 46%] 

Questions 12–13 refer to the statement below. 

“The house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this 

government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do 

not expect the Union to be dissolved—I do not expect the house to 

fall—but I do expect it will cease to be divided.” 

12. The statement was made by 

a. George Washington 

b. Thomas Jefferson 

� Abraham Lincoln 

d. Theodore Roosevelt 

[Percent correct: 39%] 

13. What war broke out soon after the statement was made? 

a. American Revolution 

b. War of 1812 

c. Mexican-American War 

� Civil War 

[Percent correct: 54%] 

53
 
14. What best describes this monument? 

a.	 For many Americans, it has been a symbol of the power of

the President. 

b.	 For many people moving west in covered wagons, it has

been a symbol of bravery. 

c.	 For many soldiers, it has been a symbol of the United States

Army. 

�	 For many immigrants, it has been a symbol of the

freedom they hoped to find in the United States. 

[Percent correct: 68%] 

15. Give TWO reasons why the people we call “pioneers” 

moved west across the United States. 

[Percent partial: 29% Inappropriate: 48%] 

54
 
Grade 8 

1.	 Over the years, many people have immigrated to the United

States. Give two reasons why people have come. Name a

group of immigrants who came for each reason you have

given. 

[Partial: 54% Inappropriate percent: 17%] 

2.	 The graph above traces “peaks” and “valleys” in immigration to

the United States from 1890 to 1970. Choose two valleys on the

graph. Using your knowledge of United States history, explain 

one major reason for each of the valleys you selected. 

[Percent essential: 21% Partial: 26%] 

3.	 One major consequence of the Seven Years’ War (French and

Indian War) was that the 

a.	 colonists’ decision to side with France led Britain to
 

retaliate against them
 

�	 expense of fighting the war led Britain to tax the colonies

directly for the first time 

c.	 loyalty of the colonists to the British side led Britain to grant 

them a high degree of self-government 

55
 
d.	 elimination of the French threat in North America led Britain 

to concentrate on conquering all of the remaining Spanish

colonies 

[Percent correct: 47%] 

4.	 Many people opposed ratification of the Constitution without a

bill of rights because they 

a.	 were afraid that states would be too powerful without a bill 

of rights 

b.	 thought that a bill of rights would strengthen the President’s 

power 

c.	 did not want the national government to have an army 

�	 feared that the new national government would deny

people their rights 

[Percent correct: 54%] 

5.	 What was the most significant factor that led the American

colonists to form the First Continental Congress in 1774? 

a.	 Religious conflict inside the colonies 

b.	 The desire of the colonists to write a Constitution to replace

the Articles of Confederation 

�	 Colonial frustration with laws passed by the British

Parliament
 

d.	 The desire of the colonists to stop the war between Britain

and the colonies 

[Percent correct: 39%] 

6.	 List two issues that were important in causing the Civil War. On

the chart below, list the Northern and Southern positions on each

of these issues. 

MANY NORTHERNERS MANY SOUTHERNERS 

BELIEVED BELIEVED 

1.	 1. 

2.	 2. 

[Percent partial: 48% Inappropriate: 28%] 

56
 
7.	 The phonograph was invented by 

a.	 Samuel Morse 

b.	 Benjamin Franklin 

�	 Thomas Edison 

d.	 Cyrus McCormick 

[Percent correct: 48%] 

8.	 What goal was most important in shaping United States

foreign policy between 1945 and 1990? 

�	 Preventing the spread of communism to new areas and

weakening it where it already existed 

b.	 Encouraging trained scientists and other skilled workers who

lived in foreign countries to immigrate to the United States 

c.	 Strengthening the United States industrial and agricultural

sectors to help them compete against the British and the

French 

d.	 Providing foreign aid to all poor countries to help them

develop economically and technologically 

[Percent correct: 26%] 

9.	 The Lend-Lease Act, the Yalta Conference, and the dropping of

the atomic bomb on Hiroshima are all associated with the 

a.	 First World War 

�	 Second World War 

c.	 Korean War 

d.	 Vietnam War 

[Percent correct: 41%] 

57
 
Questions 10–12 refer to the passage below. 

“We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created 

equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain 

unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit

of happiness. That, to secure these rights, governments are instituted 

among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the 

governed; that, whenever any form of government becomes 

destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to 

abolish it, and to institute a new government.” 

—1776 

10. The quotation is from the 

a. Articles of confederation 

b. Constitution 

� Declaration of Independence 

d. Missouri Compromise 

[Percent correct: 62%] 

11. The primary author of the document was 

a. George Washington 

b. John Marshall 

c. Robert E. Lee 

� Thomas Jefferson 

[Percent correct: 71%] 

12. Explain why the framers of the Constitution established a 

system of checks and balances among the three branches 

of government. 

[Percent partial: 22% Inappropriate: 39%] 

13. You are writing a history report about an old town. What

kinds of historical things could you learn about the old town 

from its cemetery? 

Name two historical things you could learn. 

[Percent partial: 36% Inappropriate: 13%] 

58
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Questions 14–15 refer to the cartoon below. 

14. Circle the decade in which you believe this cartoon was drawn. 

1920s 1940s �1960s 1980s 

Citing specific historical evidence, explain why you chose the

decade you did. 

[Percent partial: 10% Inappropriate: 73%] 

15. What is the main message of this cartoon? 

[Partial: 10% Inappropriate: 82%] 

16. The Monroe Doctrine was intended to 

a. promote United States trade with China 

b. help keep the peace in Europe 

� discourage European involvement in the Americas 

d. protect United States business in Japan and Korea 

[Percent correct: 30%] 

59
 
 

 

 

 

Grade 12 

1. Which of the following best describes the British colonial

policy called mercantilism? 

a.	 Encouraging colonists to sell manufactured goods to

European countries 

b.	 Sending raw materials from Britain to the colonies 

�	 Exercising British control over economic activities in the 

colonies 

d.	 Attempting to make the colonies economically selfsufficient 

[Percent correct: 40%] 

“In spite of the obvious advantages held by the North, the South

was able to fight for four years and to achieve some real military

successes. So while the North held most of the cards, the South had

one or two aces up its sleeves.” 

2.	 Identify two of the “aces” (significant advantages) that the

South had in the Civil War. Explain how these advantages

helped the South. 

[Percent essential: 26% Partial: 7%] 

3.	 In which book did Upton Sinclair describe the terrible

working and food-production conditions in the meatpacking industry?
 

a.	 The Grapes of Wrath 

b.	 Pit 

c.	 The Octopus 

�	 The Jungle 

[Percent correct: 41%] 

60
 
 

4.	 When the cartoon was created, the artist was probably

thinking of which foreign policy slogan? 

a.	 The arsenal of democracy 

b.	 Peace with honor 

c.	 We have nothing to fear but fear itself 

�	 Speak softly and carry a big stick 

[Percent correct: 45%] 

Questions 4–5 refer to the cartoon below. 

5.	 Describe the type of foreign policy that the policeman in the

cartoon represents. Give one specific example of this type of

foreign policy from the period that the cartoon shows. 

[Percentage partial: 14% Inappropriate: 63%] 

61
 
“We will answer [the] demand for a gold standard by saying . . .

you shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of

thorns, you shall not crucify mankind on a cross of gold. ” 

—William Jennings Bryan, 1896 

6. What was Bryan arguing in his “Cross of Gold” speech? 

a.	 Free coinage of silver would cause a depression. 

b.	 The gold standard was needed to preserve economic

stability. 

�	 The gold standard harmed some groups in society. 

d.	 The government should stop buying silver immediately. 

[Percent correct: 52%] 

7.	 Many writers of the “lost generation,” such as F. Scott

Fitzgerald, wrote books in which they 

�	 criticized what they regarded as the shallow materialism

of the United States during the 1920s 

b.	 sought to capture the freedom experienced by people 

living on the western frontier 

c.	 praised the quick pace and unique opportunities found in 

large cities in the United States 

d.	 expressed deep yearning for what they regarded as the 

simple lives led by rural Americans 

[Percent correct: 42%] 

8.	 Churches and other religious institutions have been

important in reform movements in the United States. 

Identify one reform movement in which religious

institutions have been involved since 1945.
 

Why did these institutions get involved in this movement, 

and what actions did they take? 

[Percent partial: 5% Inappropriate: 28%] 

62
 
9. Article I, Section 2, United States Constitution 

“[The population of states] shall be determined by adding to the 

whole number of free persons . . . three-fifths of all other 

persons.” 

An important debate led to the writing of this section of the

Constitution. Identify the issue being debated. 

Describe the northern position in this debate and explain why

many northerners took it. 

Describe the southern position in this debate and explain why 

many southerners took it. 

[Percent essential: 9% Partial: 20%] 

10. The Progressive movement of 1890–1920 is best described as 

� a broad-based reform movement that tried to reduce the 

abuses that had come with modernization and 

industrialization 

b. a loose coalition of groups primarily dedicated to passing a 

constitutional amendment prohibiting the consumption of

alcohol 

c. an anti-tariff movement led by a federation of business

owners and manufacturers who wanted to promote trade 

abroad 

d. a grass-roots movement that attempted to gather support for 

the establishment of an international organization such as the

League of Nations 

[Percent correct: 36%] 

63
 
“Imagine a six-foot-deep ditch weaving from Washington, D.C., 

to Detroit, Michigan. Men’s heads could not be seen over the top

edges. Dugouts would be tunneled for sleeping and eating

quarters.” 

11. The passage above describes battle conditions first

experienced by United States soldiers fighting in the 

� First World War 

b. Second World War 

c. Korean War 

d. Vietnam War 

[Percent correct: 51%] 

Questions 12–13 refer to the quotation below. 

“It must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples

who are resisting . . . armed minorities or . . . outside pressures.” 

—Harry S. Truman, 1947 

12. The policy described was part of a larger policy of the

Truman administration that was referred to as 

a. nativism 

b. massive retaliation 

c. isolationism 

� containment 

[Percent correct: 26%] 

13. How did Truman’s assertion change traditional United 

States foreign policy? 

Give two specific examples of United States actions that

illustrate the new foreign policy. 

[Percent partial: 13% Inappropriate: 48%] 

64
 
 

Questions 14–15 refer to the headline and newspaper cartoon 

below. 

SOVIETS LAUNCH FIRST MAN-MADE SATELLITE INTO ORBIT 

14. What did the United States government do in response to the

event referred to in the cartoon and headline? 

a.	 The government decided to seek peace immediately and to 

end the Cold War. 

b.	 The government banned civilian contact between United

States and Soviet citizens. 

�	 The government decided to spend more on both scientific

education and the military. 

d.	 The government requested that the United Nations prohibit

Soviet space exploration. 

[Percent correct: 74%] 

15. Give two reasons why many people in the United States were 

upset by the events shown in the cartoon and the headline. 

[Percent partial: 46% Inappropriate: 18%] 

65