Posts encouraged to spread word, look into serving as exam sites.
An initiative of the Department of Education (DoE) to celebrate America’s 250th birthday by holding a nationwide civics/history competition for high schoolers has been launched, slated for February.
The Presidential 1776 Award involves three rounds of multiple-choice questions and verbal examinations developed by the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation, established in 1986 by Congress to improve the teaching of the U.S. Constitution in secondary schools, and delivered digitally by EBSCOed.
According to DoE, “In Round One, held during the week of Feb. 22-28, students will take The Impossible Civics Test, an online, timed, electronically proctored multiple-choice exam. Students will have 90 minutes to answer up to 4,000 randomized civics and founding history questions in three 30-minute sections of increasing difficulty. Answers will be graded on a weighted system that accounts for both the number of correct responses and the difficulty of each question. This serves as the qualifying round, and four finalists from each state are selected.
In Round Two, in May, the state finalists will attend an in-person regional semifinals, which consist of short-answer verbal competitions held simultaneously across the country. The top four students from each region move on to the national final, Round Three in Washington, D.C., at the end of June. Students will respond to short-answer verbal questions and be awarded a point for each correct answer.
The top three winners receive scholarships of $150,000, $75,000 and $25,000.”
Registration will be open Feb. 1-21. The competition’s website also includes more information, study tips and a library of “foundational documents and historical texts that shaped American democracy.” Participation will net students access to a free digital Learning & Employment Record (LER) from
LER.me, supported by EBSCOed, which can be added to over time. The competition is open to U.S. citizens, nationals and permanent residents in grades 9-12 residing in any of the 50 states, D.C., or U.S. territories Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa or the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands.
The Feb. 22-28 Impossible Civics Test will require quiet places with internet access, as well as proctors – a role American Legion posts may well be able to fill. This flyer provides more information on hosting test sessions. And Legionnaires are encouraged to provide this informational flyer to high schools in their area. More information on how DoE is celebrating America’s 250th birthday can be found here.
- Youth