PARK SLOPE — Sophie Mondesir, a junior at St. Saviour High School, sat at her desk in U.S. history class on a recent Wednesday morning, paying close attention as teacher Sean O’Grady talked about the French and Indian War and how it was one of the events that led up to the American Revolution.
After class, she said the lesson reminded her why she enjoys studying history.
“History is always something that I find interesting because it’s good to know what happened in the past, so, as most people say, you won’t repeat it,” she said.
However, a recent survey suggests many Americans do not share Sophie’s enthusiasm for U.S. history.
The Cato Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, conducted a survey earlier this year to gauge Americans’ knowledge of U.S. history and found that nearly half (46%) did not know that the nation’s 250th anniversary on July 4 commemorated the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, and more than half (58%) did not know the purpose of the U.S. Constitution.
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O’Grady, who has been teaching at St. Saviour since 2024, said he wasn’t surprised by the findings.
“It doesn’t shock me,” he said, adding that it can be traced to the way history has been taught in schools over the years.
“When I was in high school, I remember in my U.S. history class when I was a senior, I had a teacher who just showed movies and documentaries all the time,” he said. “So, there are teachers who are very lazy and think media — a computer, a documentary, a movie — can do the job for them. And you also have teachers who don’t know the history that well themselves.”
Junior Elliana Gomez isn’t surprised either. “I have a lot of friends who go to public school, and I’ve seen their notes from the same class,” she said. “I feel the public school system, at least here in America, could use a lot of work.”
The lack of proficiency in understanding even basic elements of U.S. history has long been a concern. According to a 2014 report from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, only 18% of high school students had a working knowledge of U.S. history.
In recent years, there have been signs of improvement. In New York state, for example, 78% of public school students who took the U.S. History and Government Regents Exam in 2024 passed the test, meaning that they scored at least a 65, according to the New York State Department of Education.
But at St. Saviour High School, that 78% would be considered a disappointment, said Principal Carol Timpone. She pointed out that 100% of her students who take the history Regents pass it every year. She credited students and teachers for the impressive results.
“Our students work hard, and our teachers are the best,” she said.
O’Grady said the key to teaching history successfully is presenting it in an interesting and engaging way.
“If you tell stories and use a bit of humor instead of just standing in front of the class presenting a series of facts, you’ll find that students absorb the information better,” he explained.
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Students in New York typically take the U.S. History and Government Regents at the end of junior year. The exam covers milestone events in American history and the structure of the U.S. government. The exam includes 28 multiple-choice questions, two short essay questions requiring historical analysis, and a longer civics essay question.
While passing Regents exams is currently a requirement for New York students to graduate from high school, that will not be the case starting in 2028. The New York State Board of Regents, following a recommendation from the New York State Department of Education, voted on Sept. 14 to eliminate the Regents requirement.
Elliana said that while U.S. history isn’t her favorite subject, she enjoys learning about it. “I understand it very well, thanks to the way they teach it here,” she added. “They make it interesting.”