Nearly Half of Americans Believe U.S. Schools Are Failing When It Comes to Teaching History

FLORENCE, SC (April 2, 2025) – A new national survey from the Driving Force Institute for Public Engagement (DFI) found that only 15% of Americans believe U.S. public schools are doing an excellent job when it comes to teaching U.S. history, while 43% believe school are doing a poor or bad job teaching the essential subject.

The survey of 1,000 Americans conducted for DFI by Lincoln Park Strategies found history lagging behind English/language arts, science, and math when it comes to positive views of instruction, with history posting larger negatives than the other subjects.

“We are at a crisis point when it comes to teaching American history in our public schools,” DFI President and CEO Patrick Riccards said. “Recent years have demonstrated how important American history knowledge is to the strength of our nation, our economy, and our civil society. Yet we are seeing that history is viewed as uninteresting, irrelevant, and poorly taught.”

When asked what sort of job schools are doing when it comes to teaching American history, only 15% of those surveyed chose excellent, while 18% said good, 24% said middling, 21% said poor, and 22% said bad. Boomers have the lowest impression of history instruction, with 53% saying instruction was poor or bad. Gen Z students had the most positive opinion of history instruction, with 46% stating history instruction was excellent or good.

DFI’s national survey also found:

• 62% of those surveyed believe that states should have the freedom to create their own history curricula, but should not be able to rewrite history or ignore basic facts, while 38% believe states should have the ability to focus on events that are important to their particular viewpoints;
• 54% of those surveyed believe history instruction needs to be about teaching both the “good and the bad,” while 46% believe it should be focused on teaching “traditional American values;” and
• 62% of those surveyed believe that teaching the “negative or dark facts in history is important to better understanding our past,” while 38% believe that focusing on such negatives “creates divisions and puts certain demographic groups above others.”

Despite concerns with American history instruction, overall, Americans have a strong opinion of the current state of public schools. 51% of those surveyed gave public schools an A or B grade, while 56% gave their local schools As or Bs. 16% gave public schools nationally a D or F grade, while only 14% gave similar grades to their local schools. Gen Zers have the greatest faith in public schools, with 69% giving them A or B grades, while Gen Xers have the lowest opinion, with 20% saying public schools nationally earn a D or F grade.

75% of Asian Americans gave American public schools an A or B grade, while 58% of both African American and Latinos gave As and Bs. Only 44% of Whites surveyed gave the public schools an A or B grade. 58% of those who voted for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris gave the nation’s public schools an A or B grade, while 48% of President Donald Trump voters did the same. Nearly twice as many Trump voters (20% to 11%) gave American public schools a D or F grade.

To better understand how Americans think about specific topics taught in high school history classrooms, 57% believe lessons about George Washington should focus on his leading the Continental Army and 56% believe it should focus on Washington’s successes in war, while 4% of Americans believe George Washington should not be taught in high school classrooms.

Only 56% of those surveyed believe that the U.S. military academies should strongly support the teaching of the history of the Tuskegee Airmen, while 7% oppose such lessons being offered at all.

For the full survey results, please contact info@drivingforceinstitute.org.

About Driving Force Institute

The Driving Force Institute is transforming how American history is taught and learned by exploring untold narratives, bringing inclusive history to students and classrooms, and resonating with teenage audiences. Guided by its belief that history is a question, not a statement, DFI produces and distributes accurate, balanced, and accessible short films on American history at no cost to its audience, currently providing instructional content to more than 60 million users.

Patrick Riccards
703-298-8283
patrick@drivingforceinstitute.org

Want to see your release on the EWA site? Promote it with EWA.