# Did your high school require you to pass a civics test? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 14, 2011, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-high-school-require-you-to-pass-a-civics-test/581920 "2011-05-14T19:33:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2011, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-high-school-require-you-to-pass-a-civics-test/581920/1 "2011-05-14T19:33:32Z")
Another thread made me remember this and I’m wondering if this test is a graduation requirement anymore, or if it ever was for you. I remember we had a specific class we were required to take, it was freshman year I think, and were given what was referred to as the “citizenship test” at the end of the semester. You had to pass it to graduate. Did you have to do this? ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2011, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-high-school-require-you-to-pass-a-civics-test/581920/2 "2011-05-14T19:37:23Z")
Sorta. We had a small battery of basic civic skills tests we had to pass like how to write a simple cover letter to a prospective employer and that sort of thing ( I really forget what “that sort of thing” included, that one just sticks in my head for some reasons ). ETA: No specific class, though. As I recall it was administered in English class. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2011, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-high-school-require-you-to-pass-a-civics-test/581920/3 "2011-05-14T19:43:40Z")
We had to take a citizenship test in 8th grade, and our teacher had everyone “bind” their citizenship class folders with duct tape so we could keep the folders and study materials for high school. I remember using the folder again in high school too. ---
**Author:** ![apollonia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2bfe46/32.png) [@apollonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/apollonia)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2011, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-high-school-require-you-to-pass-a-civics-test/581920/4 "2011-05-14T19:52:12Z")
Yes. We were tested on our knowledge of the U.S. Constitution, government, and federal voting laws as well as on our state constitution and voting laws thereof. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2011, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-high-school-require-you-to-pass-a-civics-test/581920/5 "2011-05-14T19:55:21Z")
I had tests on those subjects, but they were no different than tests in any other required subject, like English or math. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2011, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-high-school-require-you-to-pass-a-civics-test/581920/6 "2011-05-14T21:00:10Z")
Government and Economics, each a semester long, are both required to graduate in Texas. I believe they replaced an older requirement for a “civics” class, that was sorta the same thing. They are full on classes, though, not a discreet test. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2011, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-high-school-require-you-to-pass-a-civics-test/581920/7 "2011-05-14T21:00:38Z")
We had a one-semester government class that was required to graduate, but there was no specific test that had to be passed. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2011, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-high-school-require-you-to-pass-a-civics-test/581920/8 "2011-05-14T22:18:44Z")
We had a civics/government type class that we were, might still be, required to pass in the state of Maryland. We also had a math and English test as well. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2011, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-high-school-require-you-to-pass-a-civics-test/581920/9 "2011-05-14T22:23:27Z")
We did, obviously (since it was my post that inspired the question, I believe) but now that I think more about it, I can’t recall if it was in Eighth grade or High School… As I mentioned in the other thread, our schools called History “Social Studies” all the way through most of the High School classes, although I do now recall that I took AP History in High School. It satisfied one of the Social Studies requirements. ETA: Illinois, gradated in 1992 ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2011, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-high-school-require-you-to-pass-a-civics-test/581920/10 "2011-05-14T22:33:52Z")
In Texas, we regularly had courses of Texas history to pass, in quite a few grades. I believe it started in third grade or so. My family moved to Missouri the summer before I entered high school, and we had a class called Citizenship or something like that. This focused on US government as a whole, and lasted two semesters, and it was a graduation requirement. When I moved back to Texas, I had to take another year of Texas history. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2011, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-high-school-require-you-to-pass-a-civics-test/581920/11 "2011-05-14T23:00:20Z")
Ah, I misunderstood the question. I thought you meant basic _skills_ for citizens, not knowledge of civics. We did have a government class, which I took as a senior, but I don’t recall if it was mandatory. Might have been. It was sort of the terminal senior-level social studies class. It was pretty rinky-dink, actually ( down to the teacher as much as anything else ). This was mid-1980’s in CA, so I’m sure whether it was a full-fledged requirement or not can be found somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![medicated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@medicated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medicated)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2011, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-high-school-require-you-to-pass-a-civics-test/581920/12 "2011-05-14T23:18:12Z")
We had that test. I irritated everyone by being the only one in the class to score perfectly. I am not even American, heh 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2011, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-high-school-require-you-to-pass-a-civics-test/581920/13 "2011-05-14T23:28:42Z")
I answered “no,” because we had our civics test in 8th grade. ---
**Author:** ![CPomeroy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ed8c4c/32.png) [@CPomeroy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CPomeroy)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2011, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-high-school-require-you-to-pass-a-civics-test/581920/14 "2011-05-14T23:36:10Z")
I remember we had to take tests on the federal and state (IL) constitutions before high school. I think it was in junior high (7th or 8th grade), but I cannot remember the specifics. ---
**Author:** ![Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mona_Lisa_Simpson)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-high-school-require-you-to-pass-a-civics-test/581920/15 "2011-05-15T00:09:59Z")
In my day/school you needed Grade 10 history to graduate. Half of Grade 10 history was civics, and we were tested on it, had a paper and a few other things to get our grades. We discussed government, parliament, the political spectrum, discussed what issues and beliefs put you where on the spectrum (I remember a lot of my fellow students being surprised that Hitler wasn’t a communist. We had a whole discussion about how extreme right/fascism can also be as controlling as extreme left/communism. What was interesting was how the discussion of political spectrum, politics lead into government, parliamentary democracy and then lead into how Confederation happened, and the BNA act, written v unwritten constitutions etc. Then we actually studied Confederation and how Canada developed as a nation after the BNA act, etc, and we finished the year (fast forwarding from the great depression) to the Constitution passing and so forth in the 1980s) I had an excellent history teacher, a curmudgeon to whom I owe much of my academic success. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-high-school-require-you-to-pass-a-civics-test/581920/16 "2011-05-15T00:28:48Z")
We didn’t even have a civics class. Our history classes covered the US Constitution but not in any detail. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-high-school-require-you-to-pass-a-civics-test/581920/17 "2011-05-15T00:29:52Z")
No specific test, but it was covered in history. And it was in junior school, not senior school. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-high-school-require-you-to-pass-a-civics-test/581920/18 "2011-05-15T01:31:20Z")
No. I did take AP US Government, and I think some sort of civics/government class was required (although it was only one semester), but no test. (I mean, no test to graduate - of course we took the AP test.) ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-high-school-require-you-to-pass-a-civics-test/581920/19 "2011-05-15T01:33:15Z")
I said “no”, but then my educational experience was unusual: From 5th grade through 9th grade I lived in Canada. Montreal, specifically. So if any civics test would have been required in any U.S. school I obviously didn’t take it. From 10th grade through high school graduation I lived in the US. Los Angeles, specifically. I fulfilled all the requirements for graduation in California. I never heard of a civics test requirement. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-high-school-require-you-to-pass-a-civics-test/581920/20 "2011-05-15T04:26:33Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > We did, obviously (since it was my post that inspired the question, I believe) but now that I think more about it, I can’t recall if it was in Eighth grade or High School… > > As I mentioned in the other thread, our schools called History “Social Studies” all the way through most of the High School classes, although I do now recall that I took AP History in High School. It satisfied one of the Social Studies requirements. > > ETA: Illinois, gradated in 1992 You took one in middle school and one in high school - both are state requirements. Illinois, graduated HS in 1986 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-high-school-require-you-to-pass-a-civics-test/581920.md?page=2)