How will we know where we're going as a country if we don't know where we've come from?
We won't, of course.
That's why it's important for students to have a proficient grasp of United States history, something fewer than one in five eighth-graders have now, according to new government data released last week from tests administered in 2014.
Nearly as bad, fewer than one in four have a proficient grasp of civics, and just over one in four are proficient in geography.
The trend isn't positive, either. In fact, the average scores for eighth graders are not significantly better (or worse) than they were in 2010, the last time the National Assessment of Educational Progress -- sometimes known as the Nation's Report Card -- examined their knowledge of geography, civics and U.S. history.
If any good news can be found from the results, it's that scores for today's students aren't quite as low as their peers from the early 1990s when the test was first administered.
In a nation that used to salute its best and brightest rather than teach to the lowest common denominator, only 1 percent of the 29,000 test takers at more than 1,300 schools across the country in U.S. history, 2 percent in civics and 3 percent in geography scored in the "advanced" level. The majority, meanwhile, scored at the "basic" level in history (53 percent) and civics (51 percent) but fell below it (48 percent) in geography.
Since the 2010 test, the last time it was administered, Hispanic students made slight gains in U.S. history and geography, while white students made slight gains in U.S. history and civics. Scores for black and Asian students didn't budge in any of the three categories.
However, Asian students increased their slight lead in outscoring white students in U.S. history and for the first time outscored them -- by one point -- in civics.
Students in private schools scored higher than their counterparts in public schools in both U.S. history and civics. The average private-school score was 280 points out of 500 in U.S. history and 168 out of 300 in civics, while the average public school was 266 out of 500 in history and 152 out of 300 in civics.
In other results, students' average test scores correlated with the education level attained by their parents, and more males tested proficient or above than did females.
It's common knowledge that students learn in different ways, but varying the methods of delivering U.S. history material didn't seem to matter in the test results. While the overall results were flat, the share of students who watched videos, used computers or listened to information online rose. Those who read essays, letters or diaries written by historical figures, for instance, rose from 17 to 22 percent. But less than two out of three students read textbook material in class.
Similarly, in civics, more students watched videos and used computers at school, but fewer students read textbooks in class or took part in role-playing activities such as mock trials. Less than half of students -- and even fewer than in 2010 -- discussed current events in class.
On specific questions, only about two-thirds were able to use a map to locate a country on the Horn of Africa, less than half (45 percent) were able to correctly able to interpret time differences using an atlas with time zones and only a quarter successfully completed a two-part question that involved explaining how the participation of blacks in the Civil War affected the war's outcome.
Various experts described the lack of progress on the tests as "startling," "unacceptable," "disappointing," "dangerous to the health of our republic" and requiring "a need for immediate action."
It's possible that in the stressing of STEM subjects -- science, technology, engineering and math -- in public schools today that social studies courses have been pushed to the rear.
Whatever the reason, social studies courses are important not only in offering a guidepost from where we've been to where we're going but also in understanding how government today is alike and different from what the Founding Fathers planned and what role geography plays in today's battles for the hearts and minds of people across the world.
The Tennessee General Assembly felt so strongly about the general lack of knowledge that it passed a bill that requires that students pass a basic civics test -- one taken by legal immigrants in order to become U.S. citizens -- to graduate from high school.
Parents, teachers, education leaders and public officials should all be on board about the importance of these courses.
Perhaps nothing less than our country is at stake.