U.S. citizenship test could soon be required to graduate high school in Texas

TEST TIME: Could you pass the U.S. Citizenship Naturalization Test?

The Texas house has tentatively approved House Bill 1776 which could replace a required U.S. history course needed to graduate high school in Texas with a U.S. Citizenship Test that cuts through all that.

Click through to see if you can pass this important test... less TEST TIME: Could you pass the U.S. Citizenship Naturalization Test?

The Texas house has tentatively approved House Bill 1776 which could replace a required U.S. history course needed to graduate high school in ... more Photo: Sam Edwards/Getty Images Photo: Sam Edwards/Getty Images Image 1 of / 32 Caption Close U.S. citizenship test could soon be required to graduate high school in Texas 1 / 32 Back to Gallery

Some in Texas are up in arms after learning that a bill approved by the Texas House could require high school students to pass a version of the standard civics test that immigrants take. The test is given when applying for United States citizenship.

The Texas House has tentatively approved House Bill 1776, which could replace a required U.S. history course needed to graduate with a civics test that cuts through all that.



HISTORY LESSON: Texas once welcomed, even recruited immigrants

The test isn’t terribly easy and requires up-to-date knowledge and discernment. Students could take the online test any time after entering the ninth grade if they think they can pass it. It’s also multiple choice.

The bill can be read here in full online.

Ten of the 100 possible questions are asked. Six correct answers are required to pass the immigration test. The bill, though, would require better than 70 percent of the questions to be answered correctly. There is no limit to how many times a student can take the test to pass it.

According to the Texas Tribune on Wednesday, one of the authors of the bill, State Rep. Trent Ashby, R-Lufkin, said in March that the bill would ensure high-schoolers get to learn the most critical parts of government.

“Though elements of the current test have importance, this bill acknowledges that there are some things our students absolutely must understand and appreciate before they finish high school,” Ashby said in a hearing in front of the House Public Education Committee. “This knowledge is critical to becoming an engaged citizen in our society, which is what we expect of any new U.S. citizens.”

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Educational experts in Texas counter that while the test has some merit, it is based on repetition and not actual knowledge of the historical meaning.

“A child wouldn’t need to have any historical context to be able to recite how many congressmen we have in the United States House of Representatives, how many you know, and so on and so forth,” Joni Rodela with Lubbock ISD told KCBD-TV in that city.

“On the flip side, within the STAAR test, as most of these questions are written in a very complex manner, meaning that there are multiple steps that the child needs to be able to think through before they can answer the question," Rodela said.

Click through the slideshow above to see if you could pass the current U.S. citizenship test…