Civics Test Update

A number of updates have been made to the Civics Test since Fall 2016.

1. Election results have been incorporated into the questions about state and national offices.
2. Missouri-specific content has been added to accommodate the Missouri Civics Test
3. Text-to-Speech functionality has been incorporated for those students who receive assessment accommodations.

Students have to pass 60% of the questions on the Civics test, which is based on the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization test. They can take it first in 8th grade and can retake it until they pass. There’s no limit to the number of times the test is administered.

Many of you are aware that ATI has been offering the Civics test for a while. The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization test is an oral test but this format was not practical in the school environment so multiple-choice items have been constructed to make testing efficient.

Civic Test Options
ATI offers two versions of the test: 1) only multiple-choice questions (102-110 items); 2) multiple-choice and educator-scored questions (100 items). The difference in length is due to the questions about the current U.S. Representatives. Questions 100-102/110 on the multiple-choice assessment ask about the representative of each of the congressional districts in a state, while there is just one, educator-scored question on the other version of the test. (i.e. "Who is your Congressperson?")

Requesting the Civics Test
It is helpful to specify which version of the Civics test you’d like when requesting the test. Multiple copies of this test can be provided. Please inform us of the number of congressional districts represented in your district when making the version request. Because the test is subject to frequent changes related primarily to changes in office holders, it is not always prudent to make requests too far in advance. ATI can offer the test for review. 

Requesting Post-Election Tests
If you last administered a version of the test before a state-wide/national election some items on the test relating to elected and appointed officials will change. Please note that these will be new items and will not be updated on tests that have already been delivered. Because it is necessary to change the Civics test often, ATI places the date of the revision in its title. This procedure will ensure receipt of the most current version and help avoid confusion.

We hope this is helpful information. If you have any questions, contact us at edmgmtsvsgrp@ati-online.com.