As we continue to honor 250 years of American independence, the most recent Nation’s Report Card shows we must renew our national commitment to our children’s U.S. history and civics education.

Across the country, only one in five 8th graders demonstrated essential knowledge in civics, and just 13 percent did so in U.S. history. What’s more, achievement continues to fall in both subjects from prior years. As leaders of state education systems centered on improving student achievement, the learning gaps that these data communicate demand action.

America’s youth must understand our shared history, our government and its functions, the rights we enjoy, and the responsibilities we bear. How else can we expect future generations to participate in our constitutional republic, engage in civil discourse in the marketplace of ideas, strengthen and trust in American institutions, and protect and sustain the Great American Experiment?

Rising to this nationwide challenge requires a deeper understanding of it. The Nation’s Report Card is a vital national measure of student achievement. However, in U.S. history and civics, it isn’t very precise. We have data for the nation as a whole, but we don’t yet know how students in Iowa, Rhode Island, and other states are doing compared to one another.

But now, states can choose to change that. The Nation’s Report Card is the only assessment that provides an apples-to-apples comparison across the country. The National Assessment Governing Board, which sets policy for the Nation’s Report Card (also called the National Assessment of Educational Progress or NAEP), recently announced that states can opt in to receive state-level results on the next civics assessment at no cost to them.

That data is likely to reveal hard truths, but we owe it to our children and our nation not to look away. Instead, state-level results can be used as a flashlight, illuminating what we do next to advance student learning in partnership with families and teachers. Many states, including ours, have employed the Nation’s Report Card’s high expectations for all students to raise rigor, improve instruction, and accelerate achievement. Iowa and Rhode Island are already helping lead the way.

Iowa has focused on rigorous, content-rich U.S. history and civics standards, prioritizing our constitutional principles and learning from primary sources in defining what every student should know and be able to do. Building upon Iowa’s recent civics test graduation requirement, this past summer, Governor Kim Reynolds signed into law a new social studies state assessment in grades 8 and 11. And now, for the first time, Iowa’s class of 2027 will have the opportunity to earn a Seal of Civics Excellence on their diplomas, recognizing their distinguished knowledge and participation in civic and community activities.

Rhode Island has strengthened civics education standards to ensure that all students demonstrate proficiency in civics and graduate prepared to be informed, engaged participants in their communities and democracy. There is no example of that more powerful than Ryan Lukowicz, a student who is blind, who successfully advocated in the General Assembly that schools offer intentionally designed physical education options that meet the needs of all students in earning credit. Applying civics knowledge can lead to local change and help students find a career path: Lukowicz is now attending college and studying pre-law.

Parents and employers demand these skills and knowledge from our students and schools. The Jack Miller Center found that nearly nine in 10 parents polled said civic education about our nation’s founding principles is “very important.” Likewise, the employment website Indeed finds that key durable skills employers expect include problem-solving, critical thinking, and communication, especially in crucial conversations—all of which are developed in strong U.S. history and civics courses.

One of the best ways we can commemorate our nation’s 250th birthday this year is through our commitment to educating informed, responsible, and engaged students. Like many of our fellow state chiefs across the nation, Iowa and Rhode Island are focused on empowering students, families, and teachers with what they need to meet high expectations in U.S. history and civics. We hope those colleagues will join us in taking another critical step forward in this work by saying yes to state-level civics data on the Nation’s Report Card.

McKenzie Snow is the director of the Iowa Department of Education. Angélica Infante-Green is the Rhode Island Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education and serves on the National Assessment Governing Board.