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U.S. history classroom activities

 GRADE 4
GRADE 8
 GRADE 12

As part of the 2006 U.S. history assessment, eighth-grade students were asked the following question about the activities in their social studies classes. Below is the full text of the question and the percentage of students who responded within each category.

When you study history or social studies in school, how often do you do each of the following?

  Percentage of students
Activity Never A few times a year Once or twice a month Once or twice a week About every day
Read material from a textbook 3 6 12 37 42

Read extra material not in the regular textbook(e.g., biographies or historical stories)

16 20 29 27 8

Use letters, diaries, or essays written by historical people

28 28 26 14 4
Discuss the material studied 5 5 9 23 58

Write short answers (a paragraph or less) to questions

6 7 20 42 25
Write a report 15 35 38 10 2
Work on a group project 13 28 40 16 3

Give a report on the topic being studied

21 35 31 10 3

Watch movies, videos, or filmstrips

5 21 45 21 7
Take a test or quiz 1 3 35 52 9

Go on field trips or have outside speakers

51 40 6 2 1
Do schoolwork in the library 38 30 22 8 2

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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