II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 860 

To amend the National Assessment of Educational Progress Authorization 

Act to require State academic assessments of student achievement in 

United States history and civics, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 20, 2005 

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 

civics, 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; 

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 (3) America’s past encompasses great leaders 

18 and great ideas that contribute to our shared herit19 age and to the principles of freedom, equality, jus20 tice, and opportunity for all; 

21 (4) an appreciation for the defining events in 

22 our Nation’s history can be a catalyst for civic in23 volvement; and 

24 (5) the strength of American democracy and 

25 our standing in the world depend on ensuring that 
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1 our children have a strong understanding of our Na2 tion’s past. 

3 SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO THE NATIONAL ASSESSMENT OF 

4 EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS AUTHORIZATION 

5 ACT. 

6 Section 303(b) of the National Assessment of Edu7 cational Progress Authorization Act (20 U.S.C. 9622(b)) 

8 is amended— 

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

10 priority in conducting assessments in history not less 

11 frequently than once every 4 years)’’ after ‘‘subject 

12 matter’’; and 

13 (2) in paragraph (3)(A)— 

14 (A) in clause (iii)— 

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

16 clause (iv),’’ before ‘‘may conduct’’; and 

17 (ii) by striking ‘‘and’’ after the semi18 colon; 

19 (B) by redesignating clause (iv) as clause 

20 (v); and 

21 (C) by inserting after clause (iii) the fol22 lowing: 

23 ‘‘(iv) shall conduct trial State aca24 demic assessments of student achievement 

25 in United States history in grades 8 and 
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1 12 in not less than 10 States representing 

2 geographically diverse regions of the 

3 United States and in civics in grades 8 and 

4 12 in not less than 10 States representing 

5 geographically diverse regions of the 

6 United States (with a priority given to con7 ducting assessments in United States his8 tory); and’’. 

9 SEC. 4. NATIONAL ASSESSMENT GOVERNING BOARD. 

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

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

12 9621(e)(1)) is amended— 

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

14 the semicolon; 

15 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (J) as sub16 paragraph (K); 

17 (3) in the flush matter at the end, by striking 

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

19 (K)’’; and 

20 (4) by inserting after subparagraph (I) the fol21 lowing: 

22 ‘‘(J) in consultation with the Commissioner 

23 for Education Statistics, identify and select the 

24 States that will participate in the trial State 
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1 academic assessments described in section 

2 303(b)(3)(A)(iv); and’’. 

3 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

4 Section 305 of the National Assessment of Edu5 cational Progress Authorization Act (20 U.S.C. 9624) is 

6 amended— 

7 (1) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub8 section (c); and 

9 (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(b) HISTORY AND CIVICS ASSESSMENTS.—There 

12 are authorized to be appropriated— 

13 ‘‘(1) $7,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2006 

14 and 2007 to carry out sections 303(b)(3)(A)(iv) and 

15 302(e)(1), of which not more than $500,000 for 

16 each fiscal year shall be available to carry out sec17 tion 302(e)(1); and 

18 ‘‘(2) such sums as may be necessary to carry 

19 out such sections for each succeeding fiscal year.’’. 

20 SEC. 6. CONFORMING AMENDMENT. 

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

22 Act of 2002 (20 U.S.C. 9513(a)(1)) is amended by strik23 ing ‘‘section 302(e)(1)(J)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 

24 302(e)(1)(K)’’. 

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