Before you don sackcloth and ashes over the latest NAEP history results, take a deep breath.

Consider the baleful warnings from the first History-Civics NAEP in 1987-88

Or the "limited" performance of American youth on the eve of the 1976 Bicentennial

And this one makes us think twice about that "Greatest Generation."

Now here's a riddle: think about who actually made it to high school in Texas in 1917, the first time a test of historical facts was administered to American students.

The bottom line from 1917:

Go back to granddad and tell him that you are no more ignorant than he was!

But seriously, to paraphrase the ever-thoughtful Michael Schudson, historical knowledge has a way of "seeping into the cultural pores" even if such knowledge is not readily retrievable by "seventeen-year olds answering a quiz."

While we're at it, can we ask Ms. DeVos to take a quiz on the history of voter suppression in the US?

Finally, what does NAEP measure, anyway? @YAppelbaum
…https://www-washingtonpost-com.stanford.idm.oclc.org/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/09/19/the-nations-report-card-says-it-assesses-critical-thinking-in-history-but-naep-gets-an-f-on-that-score/

(in case you're paywalled from WaPo), here's a summary: