NAEP Report Card: 2022 Civics Assessment, Grade 8
National Center for Education Statistics / National Assessment Governing Board · 2023
grade Dreviewindependentnot-applicable
Sample
Nationally representative sample of US grade 8 students; assessment years 1998, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022
Population
US eighth-graders.
Design
Descriptive national assessment trend with no counterfactual and no intervention. Recorded because the trend line is a load-bearing fact for the topic: it is the outcome that every state civics mandate of the last twenty-five years was supposed to move.
Key findings
The 2022 average grade-8 civics score fell 2 points from 2018 - the first decline since the assessment began in 1998 - and was not significantly different from 1998. Only 22% of eighth-graders scored at or above NAEP Proficient. Twenty-four years of civics policy activity, including the spread of state civics-course and civics-exam requirements, has produced no net national gain in measured civic knowledge.
Genetic confound
Not assessed in detail; see exclusion note.
Replication notes
A repeated national assessment, not a study; the trend is the replication.
Effects
| Outcome | Metric | Value | Measure | Timing | Vs | Horizon | Class |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NAEP Civics average score, grade 8 | national trend, scale points | 2022 down 2 points from 2018; not significantly different from 1998; 22% at or above Proficient | standardized (NAEP Civics) | grade 8, 1998-2022 | none | not-applicable | domain-skill |