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Students Prepare For Required Civics Test

PEA RIDGE (KFSM)– For the past three months, students at Pea Ridge High School have studied for a test they have to pass to get their diploma. Arkansas pa...

PEA RIDGE (KFSM)-- For the past three months, students at Pea Ridge High School have studied for a test they have to pass to get their diploma.

Arkansas passed a new law that requires all high school students to pass the civics section of the U.S. Naturalization test.

At first, AP World History Teacher Mike Harrod said his students didn't really know what to think.

“They were apprehensive when we first talked about it and it looked like a lot of material but then once we got into it, they said oh this is simple and they were not intimidated near as much once I put it on Google Classroom," Harrod said. "They studied it, went over the PowerPoint, did the first quiz over it. Then they thought oh yeah we got this.”

Those students are now confident that they will have little to no issues when it comes time to taking the actual test.

“I mean no one wants to take an extra test but I think its kind of good that they are making sure that we know these basic things about our country," junior Ashley Hansen said.

Teachers like Harrod have made sure students have the necessary materials needed to study for the test.

Hansen said they have a PowerPoint presentation online that they have been going through and they take practice tests every week.

Harrod explained he didn't really have to change much to his lesson plans.

The students take a civics class in ninth grade but Harrod goes over a lot of that information in his normal lessons.

Some of the questions the students will have to answer include, who is in charge of the executive branch and who wrote the Declaration of Independence?

Even with only a few months to study some say they are ready for the real thing.

“Its good to know that they want us to pass it and they’re trying to help make sure we know what we are doing and that its not just oh two weeks before graduation you guys all have to take this test. Just glad that they are getting it out there because I wouldn’t have known otherwise," junior Connor Escajeda said. "I’m glad we got a few months before.”

In order to pass, the students must answer sixty of the one hundred questions correctly.

Harrod said they will take the test in April.

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