Although it was introduced later and is given less frequently than the reading assessment (see the indicators under the topics “Trends in Basic Reading Skills among School-Age Children” and “Reading Proficiency as Compared with that in Science and Math”), the NAEP for U.S. history also supplies data describing change over time in students’ knowledge of a core humanities subject. (For information on state policies regarding the teaching of history at the precollegiate level, consult the National History Education Clearinghouse’s Fall 2011 update to its 2010 Report on the State of History Education.)

The NAEP history scores are reported here by achievement level. For an explanation of the achievement scale and detailed information about the competencies associated with each achievement level, see http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/ushistory/achieve.aspx. For readers interested in detailed tabulations of student scores by gender and race/ethnicity, as well as their changes over time, the NAEP report card provides an interactive tool at http://www.nationsreportcard.gov/hgc_2014/#history/achievement#groups.