Capitol Report: Reducing Testing, Increasing Civics

Concerns have been raised that American kids lack the appropriate civics knowledge to become good citizens. In 2016, the Minnesota Legislature passed a law that will require public school students pass a civics test consisting of 50 of the 100 questions from the INS Naturalization test. Senator Steve Cwodzinski, DFL-Eden Prairie, taught American Government and History for more than thirty years before being elected a state senator. He joins Capitol Report moderator Shannon Loehrke to offer his perspective on civics education and to describe his bill that would require a civics course for high school juniors and seniors.

The Office of the Legislative Auditor completed an evaluation of Minnesota’s standardized student testing practices in March, concluding that the state spends significant time and resources on standardized testing with limited usefulness. Senator Chuck Wiger, DFL-Maplewood, believes Minnesota students are being tested too much, and specifically recommends that the high school Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment (MCA) be replaced with a standard college entrance exam, like the ACT or SAT. He joins Shannon in the studio to lay out his rationale.