2021 Tennessee Code
Title 49 - Education
Chapter 6 - Elementary and Secondary Education
Part 4 - Junior and Senior High Schools Generally
§ 49-6-408. Administration of United States Civics Test

Universal Citation: TN Code § 49-6-408 (2021)
  1. Beginning January 1, 2017, except as provided in subsection (c), a student, during the student's high school career, shall be given a United States civics test composed of questions from the one hundred (100) questions that are set forth within the civics test administered by the United States citizenship and immigration services to persons seeking to become naturalized citizens.

  2. An LEA shall prepare a test for its students composed of at least fifty (50) questions from those questions described in subsection (a). The test must be composed of at least twenty-nine (29) questions on American government, at least sixteen (16) questions on American history, and at least seven (7) questions on integrated civics. The LEA may prepare multiple versions of the test for use in different schools and at different times.

  3. A public high school may provide each student with the opportunity to take the test as many times as necessary for the student to pass the test.

  4. A student must correctly answer at least seventy percent (70%) of the questions to receive a passing score on the test.

  5. The department shall recognize a school on the department's website as a United States civics all-star school for any school year in which all of the school's seniors receiving a regular diploma make a passing grade of eighty-five percent (85%) or more on the United States civics test required under subsection (a).

  6. Notwithstanding § 49-6-6001(a), a student must take and pass the civics test required by this section in order to meet the social studies course credit requirements to earn a full diploma upon graduation from high school. A passing score on the civics test must be noted on a student's transcript.

  7. Notwithstanding subsection (f), for the 2019-2020 school year, a student is not required to take and pass the civics test required in this section to meet the social studies course credit requirements to earn a full diploma upon graduation from high school.
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