U.S. Students Failing History, Demonstrate No Grasp of the Past

COLLEGE PARK, Md., June 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the most recent national scholastic assessment test,* only 17% of U.S. 8^th graders and 12% of high school seniors are proficient in history.  National History Day (NHD), scheduled June 9^th-13^th at the University of Maryland, College Park, is aimed at reversing this trend.

Host of PBS' Constitution USA and NPR's Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me!, Peter Sagal will join more than 8,000 students, teachers and NHD advocates from all fifty states, Guam, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, China, South Korea, and Indonesia for this prestigious competition. NHD, which was awarded the National Humanities Medal in 2012 by President Barack Obama, is designed to ensure students have a firm grasp of the past and the critical thinking skills necessary to be tomorrow's leaders. This year's NHD challenge, built on the theme, "Turning Points in History—People, Ideas and Events," will showcase some of the best and brightest young minds, whose experience participating in this competition has helped prepare them to succeed in today's increasingly competitive, globalized world.

This year, more than a half a million middle and high school students participated in the NHD program, which allows students to improve upon their critical thinking, problem-solving, research, reading, oral and written communication and presentation skills. Students spent close to a year researching history projects based on the "Turning Points in History" theme and creating powerful exhibits, websites, documentaries, performances and papers, which they entered into competitions at the regional, affiliate and national levels. 

"During my travels around the country filming Constitution USA for PBS, I discovered that most adult Americans don't know much about their Constitution nor their country's history," says Sagal. "This next generation needs to be way smarter than we are, and I look forward to telling these amazing kids they're going to have to be picking up the slack." 

More than 300 historians and educators take part in the evaluation process and the top exhibits from each affiliate will be featured at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History at a reception Wednesday, June 12.  The overall winners will be announced at a ceremony on Thursday, June 13, at the University of Maryland, College Park.

In addition to NPR's Peter Sagal, outspoken supporters of NHD include renowned historian and documentarian Ken Burns, journalist and author Cokie Roberts, and Food Network's Guy Fieri, who is a past winner of this prestigious competition.

"In order to be tomorrow's leaders, today's students must have a firm grasp on the past," says Cathy Gorn, executive director of NHD.  "It is time we level the playing field between STEM and History education in the U.S. The ability to think critically is an indispensable skill in today's global job market, and yet too often it is overlooked in our educational system. NHD is designed to address this challenge head on."

Interviews, Photo and B-Roll opportunities include:

• Sunday, June 9th, 6:30 PM: Welcome Ceremony, McKeldin Mall, UMD -- Peter Sagal to Make Opening Remarks;
• Monday, Tuesday, June 10th and 11^th, 10 AM – 4PM: Exhibition of Projects and Judging, Grand Ballroom, Stamp Student Union, UMD;
• Wednesday, June 12th, 6-8:30 PM: National History Night, Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. Top projects will be showcased;
• Thursday, June 13th, 8:30 AM-12 PM: Awards Ceremony, Comcast Center, UMD.

To view the complete list of last year's winners from all categories, please visit: http://nhd.org/AwardsWinners.htm

An independent evaluation of the effectiveness of National History Day has shown that students who participate in the competition perform better on high-stakes tests, are better writers, more confident and capable researchers, and have a more mature perspective on current events and civic engagement than their peers.

Sponsors of this year's National History Day include the History Channel, Weider History Group, WEM Foundation, Kenneth E. Behring, Patricia Behring, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Park Service and Southwest Airlines.

About National History Day 
Launched in 1974, National History Day (NHD) is a year-long academic organization for middle and high school students. Each year, more than half a million students, encouraged by thousands of teachers nationwide participate in the NHD contest. Students choose historical topics related to a theme and conduct extensive primary and secondary research through libraries, archives, museums, oral history interviews and historic sites. After analyzing and interpreting their sources and drawing conclusions about their topics' significance in history, students present their work in original papers, websites, exhibits, performances and documentaries. These products are entered into competitions in the spring at local, affiliate and national levels where they are evaluated by professional historians and educators. The program culminates in a national competition each June held at the University of Maryland at College Park.  For more information on NHD, visit www.nhd.org.

*This statistic comes from the 2010 National Assessment of Educational Progress, administered every four years.

Contact: Kelly Keane
410-321-0137
[email protected] 

SOURCE National History Day