Survey Questionnaire Results
NAEP reports results using widely accepted statistical standards; findings are reported based on a statistical significance level set at .05 with appropriate adjustments for multiple comparisons. Students are always the unit of analysis when reporting NAEP survey questionnaire responses. The percentages shown are weighted and represent students or students whose teachers or school administrators indicated a specific response on the survey questionnaire. Some student responses are missing due to the inability to link students to their teacher’s or school administrator's responses to the survey questionnaire or due to nonresponse from students, teachers, or school administrators. The denominator of the percentages presented excludes all students with missing information in data for the analysis. The percentage distributions of reported survey response categories could change when students with missing data are included in the denominator. To find missing rates and explore student, teacher, and school questionnaire data further, use the NAEP Data Explorer.
Seventy-two percent of eighth-grade students report taking a class mainly focused on U.S. history in grade 8
As part of the 2018 U.S. history assessment, eighth-grade students were asked whether they had taken a class or course about U.S. history in the eighth grade.
In 2018, seventy-two percent of students at grade 8 reported taking an eighth-grade class or course mainly focused on U.S. history, and eighteen percent of students reported that they took an eighth-grade class or course that included some U.S. history topics. Grade 8 students who reported taking an eighth-grade class or course mainly focused on U.S. history had a higher U.S. history score on average (268) than students who reported taking an eighth-grade class or course that included some U.S. history topics (254), and students who reported not taking an eighth-grade class or course that taught these topics (259).
See the detailed results for this question in NAEP Data Explorer:
Eighth-grade students whose teachers have primary responsibility for teaching U.S. history to their class score higher on average than students whose teachers do not
As part of the 2018 U.S. history assessment, teachers of eighth-grade students were asked to describe their role in teaching U.S. history to their class.
In 2018, sixty-two percent of students at grade 8 had teachers who reported having primary responsibility for teaching U.S. history to their class. These students had a higher U.S. history score on average (266) than students whose teachers did not indicate having primary responsibility (262).
Teachers’ roles in teaching U.S. history to their class were examined by type of school. There was no statistically significant difference between the percentages of public school and Catholic school students whose teachers reported having primary responsibility for teaching U.S. history in 2018. Specifically, sixty-two percent of public school students and sixty-one percent of Catholic school students at grade 8 had teachers who had primary responsibility for teaching U.S. history to their class.
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Larger percentage of higher-performing students often or always or almost always participate in some U.S. history-related practices during the school year compared to lower-performing students
As part of the 2018 U.S. history assessment, eighth-grade students were asked how frequently they participated in U.S. history-related practices when studying this subject during the current school year. The response categories for these survey questions are never or hardly ever, once in a while, sometimes, often, and always or almost always.
The chart below shows the percentages of lower-performing eighth-grade students (scoring below the 25th percentile on the U.S. history assessment) and higher-performing students (scoring at or above the 75th percentile) who reported they often or always or almost always participated in various U.S. history-related practices in 2018. Note that not all frequency categories are shown for each U.S. history-related practice.
Compared to the lower-performing students, a larger percentage of higher-performing students reported that they often or always or almost always examined the causes and effects of important events in U.S. history; often or always or almost always analyzed the relationship between two historical events; and often or always or almost always compared and evaluated different points of view about the past during the eighth-grade school year.
| History-related practice | Students below 25th percentile | Students at or above 75th percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Examine the causes and effects of important events in U.S. history | ||
| Analyze the relationship between two historical events | ||
| Compare and evaluate different points of view about the past |
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Sixty-five percent of eighth-grade students report moderate to high levels of perspective taking in their historical thinking in 2018
As part of the 2018 U.S. history assessment, eighth-grade students were presented with a series of statements in the survey questionnaire that capture some important aspects of historical thinking, specifically the tendency to consider different perspectives when thinking about historical events. Students were asked to indicate how much each statement described them. Two sample statements included "I form opinions about historical events only after I have information from more than one source" and "I need to know the history leading up to an event to truly understand it." Students' responses to these statements were combined to create an index that focuses on perspective taking in their historical thinking.
The chart below shows the percentages (in bars) and average scores (in circles) of eighth-grade students who reported low, moderate, and high levels of perspective taking in their historical thinking. In 2018, sixty-five percent of students at grade 8 reported that these statements about perspective taking in historical thinking described them at a moderate to high level. Students who reported moderate or high levels of perspective taking in their historical thinking scored higher on average (265 and 271, respectively) than students who reported low levels of perspective taking (258). In addition, students who reported moderate levels of perspective taking in their historical thinking scored higher on average than students who reported low levels of perspective taking.
Selected 2018 NAEP U.S. history survey questionnaire results are highlighted below for students' coursetaking in U.S. history; teachers' instruction in U.S. history; students' learning of and participation in U.S. history-related practices; and students' perspective taking in their historical thinking.
NAEP survey questionnaire responses provide additional information for understanding NAEP performance results. Although comparisons in students' performance are made based on student, teacher, and school characteristics and educational experiences, these results cannot be used to establish a cause-and-effect relationship between the characteristics or experiences and student achievement. NAEP is not designed to identify the causes of performance differences. Therefore, results must be interpreted with caution. There are many factors that may influence average student achievement, including local educational policies and practices, the quality of teachers, available resources, and the demographic characteristics of the student body. Such factors may change over time and vary among student groups.