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The Nation's Report Card


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Historical periods studied

GRADE 4
 GRADE 8
 GRADE 12

As part of the 2006 U.S. history assessments, teachers of fourth-grade students were asked the following question about the historical periods they covered in class. Below is the full text of the question and the percentage of students whose teachers responded within each category.

About how many weeks during the school year do you spend covering the following periods in U.S. history?

  Percentage of students
Period in U.S. history Not covered in curriculum One to two weeks Three
to five weeks
Six or more weeks

The period before 1815: beginnings through the Revolution (e.g., colonization, settlement, revolution)

31 22 21 26

The period between 1815 and 1865: the new nation through the Civil War (e.g., expansion, reform, crisis of the Union)

37 23 27 14

The period between 1865 and 1945: the development of modern America (e.g., Reconstruction, Industrial growth, United States role in world affairs, the Great Depression, the First and Second World Wars, immigration)

45 27 20 7

The period between 1945 and the present: contemporary America (e.g., civil rights movement, women's rights movement, Korean and Vietnam wars, environmental movement)

48 29 17 6

Check for Statistical Significance

To further analyze these data, test for significance, or see corresponding average scores, view the complete data with standard errors in the NAEP Data Explorer. Click on "Find Out" to check for statistical significance. To learn about using the NAEP Data Explorer, view the NAEP Data Explorer tutorial.

Browse background questionnaires for the NAEP assessments.

NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2006 U.S. History Assessment.

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