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What questions are used in the NAEP U.S. history assessment?

Explore sample questions from the U.S. history assessment, and see how the NAEP U.S. history questions relate to student performance.

 

Test Yourself in U.S. History

Select one of the grade tabs below to try out questions from the 2010 NAEP U.S. history assessment. After answering all the questions, compare your score with that of students nationally. A very limited number of U.S. history items were released at Grade 8 so no sample items are available.

Grade 4
Grade 12

Question 1 of 5 :

There is a map of the world with the continents labeled. A dotted line is drawn from southern Europe eastward across the northern Mediterranean, through Arabia, Persia, and Tibet, and ending in eastern China.

The dotted lines on the map above show some of the main trade routes between Europe and Asia in the time before Christopher Columbus.

What is one reason why Europeans looked for new trade routes across the oceans?

  1.    Goods made in the Americas were believed to be cheaper and better made.
  2.    Asians no longer needed any of the products that Europeans wanted to trade.
  3.    European traders were hoping to find cheaper and shorter routes.
  4.    European Kings and Queens no longer allowed trade along the old routes.
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The correct answer is: C
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Question 2 of 5 :

What role did many colonial women play during the American Revolution?

  1.  They served as officers in the army.
  2.  They gave speeches to rally the people against the British.
  3.  They kept the farms and shops running during the war.
  4.  They helped to run the government while men were away fighting.
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The correct answer is: C
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Question 3 of 5 :

The following question refers to the drawing below.

A waterwheel next to the building is attached by gears and belts to shafts on each floor. Workers can be seen standing next to machinery in the building.

Look at this drawing of a textile (cloth) mill from 1830. The main reason that the textile mill was located next to a river was that

  1.   the river supplied power to run the machines in the mill
  2.   the river provided a convenient source of drinking water
  3.   the water was needed to grow the cotton used in the mill
  4.   most people who worked at the mill lived along the river
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The correct answer is: A
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Question 4 of 5:

Many things changed for African Americans in the South after the Civil War. One important change was that

  1.  many African Americans left the South to return to Africa
  2.  many African Americans started their own plantations
  3.  several southern states had African American governors
  4.  African American slaves gained their freedom
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The correct answer is: D
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Question 5 of 5:

Which country was the leading communist nation during the Cold War?

  1. France
  2. The Soviet Union
  3. North Korea
  4. Germany
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The correct answer is: B
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The chart below shows the percentage of questions that you answered correctly, as well as how students at each of the achievement levels performed on this set of questions. For instance, fourth-grade students at Proficient had 70 percent correct on average.

[Overall|46],[Below Basic|28],[Basic|46],[Proficient|70] Fourth-grade percentage correct on selected U.S. history questions: 2010
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Fourth-grade percentage correct on selected U.S. history questions: 2010

Overall = 46. Below Basic = 28. Basic = 46. Proficient = 70.

Note: No bar for Advanced appears on the graph because reporting standards were not met.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2010 U.S. History Assessment.

View this set of questions in the NAEP Questions Tool to see student performance.