U.S. adopts a new citizenship exam

The federal government yesterday introduced a new U.S. citizenship civics exam designed to force would-be citizens to go beyond memorizing historical facts and instead grasp the fundamental meaning of being an American.

Gone are questions about the number of states in the union or what country the U.S. fought in the Revolutionary War. In their place are questions about why the colonists went to war with Britain or what powers are held exclusively by the federal government.

“It’s no longer a test about how many stars are on the flag or how many stripes, it’s a test that genuinely talks about those things that make America what it is,” said Emilio Gonzalez, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

The goal, he said, was a better test, not a harder test — and the results of a pilot program bore that out. More than 92 percent of the pilot group passed the test on the first attempt, far higher than the 84 percent rate of passage for first-timers on the current exam.

The pilot tested 142 questions, but the pool was narrowed to 100. Would-be citizens are asked 10 questions, and an immigrant must answer six correctly to pass the civics portion.

The civics questions comprise half of the naturalization test, and the other half is a test of English skills. The test is administered in English, except for longtime residents over a certain age, who can take the test in their own language.

But some senators said yesterday the test should do more to make immigrants prove knowledge of English. Nine senators, all Republicans, said in a letter to President Bush that the current method of dictating sentences to be written doesn’t really test an immigrant’s abilities.

“We are deeply concerned that the English exam remains inadequate,” wrote the lawmakers, led by Sen. James M. Inhofe of Oklahoma. “U.S. citizenship is a great privilege. We should exercise care to confer it only upon individuals who have demonstrated that they are capable of exercising the rights and responsibilities of citizenship, including the right to vote, in English.”

But USCIS officials said the goal of the English portion is to test a working knowledge.

Many of the 42 questions dropped between the pilot testing and the final set of 100 questions were eliminated because they were too difficult linguistically, Mr. Aguilar said. But he said they did not drop any questions on key fundamental concepts of citizenship.

One dropped question inquired about the intent of the Federalist Papers, the newspaper articles written by three of the Founding Fathers to try to urge adoption of the Constitution. The committee that wrote the questions decided it was too difficult linguistically and instead wrote a question asking for the name of one of the three authors: James Madison, John Jay or Alexander Hamilton.

“The point is we want to make sure they understand, as they study, the main purpose of the Federalist Papers,” Mr. Aguilar said.

Also gone is a question about the United Nations, as are questions about the 50th state added to the union; the name of the ship that carried the Pilgrims to Massachusetts; and some questions about famous Americans, such as the author of “The Star-Spangled Banner” and the man who uttered “Give me liberty or give me death.”

Instead, the test focuses heavily on the Constitution’s road map for a republican form of government and on the division of powers and roles among the various branches and agencies of the government.

“The theory is as they study the fundamentals of our history and civics, they will also identify with them and become attached to our country,” Mr. Aguilar said.

Story Continues →