II 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2721 

To amend the National Assessment of Educational Progress Authorization 

Act to require State academic assessments of student achievement in 

United States history, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 22, 2004 

Mr. ALEXANDER (for himself and Mr. KENNEDY) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the National Assessment of Educational Progress 

Authorization Act to require State academic assessments 

of student achievement in United States history, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘American History 

5 Achievement Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 
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1 (1) the 2001 National Assessment of Edu2 cational Progress assessment in United States his3 tory had the largest percentage of students scoring 

4 below basic of any subject that was tested, including 

5 mathematics, science, and reading; and 

6 (2) in the 2001 National Assessment of Edu7 cational Progress assessment in United States his8 tory— 

9 (A) 33 percent of students in grade 4 

10 scored below basic, 36 percent of students in 

11 grade 8 scored below basic, and 57 percent of 

12 students in grade 12 scored below basic; 

13 (B) 92 percent of students in grade 12 

14 could not explain the most important cause of 

15 the Great Depression after reading a paragraph 

16 delineating 4 significant reasons; 

17 (C) 91 percent of students in grade 8 

18 could not ‘‘list two issues that were important 

19 in causing the Civil War’’ and ‘‘list the North20 ern and Southern positions on each of these 

21 issues’’; 

22 (D) 95 percent of students in grade 4 

23 could not list ‘‘two reasons why the people we 

24 call ‘pioneers’ moved west across the United 

25 States’’; 
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1 (E) 73 percent of students in grade 4 

2 could not identify the Constitution from among 

3 4 choices as ‘‘the document that contains the 

4 basic rules used to run the United States gov5 ernment’’; 

6 (F) 75 percent of students in grade 4 

7 could not identify ‘‘the three parts of the fed8 eral (national) government of the United 

9 States’’ out of 4 possible choices; 

10 (G) 94 percent of students in grade 8 

11 could not ‘‘give two reasons why it can be use12 ful for a country to have a constitution’’; and 

13 (H) 91 percent of students in grade 12 

14 were unable to ‘‘explain two ways that demo15 cratic society benefits from citizens actively par16 ticipating in the political process’’. 

17 SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO THE NATIONAL ASSESSMENT OF 

18 EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS AUTHORIZATION 

19 ACT. 

20 Section 303(b) of the National Assessment of Edu21 cational Progress Authorization Act (20 U.S.C. 9622(b)) 

22 is amended— 

23 (1) in paragraph (2)(D), by inserting ‘‘(with a 

24 priority in conducting assessments in history not less 
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1 frequently than once every 4 years)’’ after ‘‘subject 

2 matter’’; and 

3 (2) in paragraph (3)(A)— 

4 (A) in clause (iii)— 

5 (i) by inserting ‘‘except as provided in 

6 clause (v),’’ before ‘‘may conduct’’; and 

7 (ii) by striking ‘‘and’’ after the semi8 colon; 

9 (B) in clause (iv), by striking the period at 

10 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

11 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(v) shall conduct trial State aca13 demic assessments of student achievement 

14 in United States history in grades 8 and 

15 12 in not less than 10 States representing 

16 geographically diverse regions of the 

17 United States.’’. 

18 SEC. 4. NATIONAL ASSESSMENT GOVERNING BOARD. 

19 Section 302(e)(1) of the National Assessment of 

20 Educational Progress Authorization Act (20 U.S.C. 

21 9621(e)(1)) is amended— 

22 (1) in subparagraph (I), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 

23 the semicolon; 

24 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (J) as sub25 paragraph (K); 
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1 (3) in the flush matter at the end, by striking 

2 ‘‘subparagraph (J)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraph 

3 (K)’’; and 

4 (4) by inserting after subparagraph (I) the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘(J) in consultation with the Commissioner 

7 for Education Statistics, identify and select the 

8 States that will participate in the trial State 

9 academic assessments described in section 

10 303(b)(3)(A)(v); and’’. 

11 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

12 Section 303(b)(3) of the National Assessment of 

13 Educational Progress Authorization Act (20 U.S.C. 

14 9622(b)(3)) is amended by adding at the end the fol15 lowing: 

16 ‘‘(D) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA17 TIONS.—There are authorized to be appro18 priated to carry out subparagraph (A)(v) 

19 $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2005 and 

20 2006 and such sums as may be necessary for 

21 each succeeding fiscal year.’’. 

22 SEC. 6. CONFORMING AMENDMENT. 

23 Section 113(a)(1) of the Education Sciences Reform 

24 Act of 2002 (20 U.S.C. 9513(a)(1)) is amended by strik-
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1 ing ‘‘section 302(e)(1)(J)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 

2 302(e)(1)(K)’’. 

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