Historians tend to tell the same joke when they are describing history education in America. It’s the one 1 the teacher standing in the schoolroom door waving goodbye to students for the summer and calling 2 them, "By the way, we won World War II." The problem with the joke, of course, is that it’s not funny. The recent surveys on 3 illiteracy are beginning to numb: nearly one third of American 17-year-olds cannot even identify which countries the United States 4 against in that war. One third have no idea when the Declaration of Independence was 5 . One third thought Columbus reached the New World after 1750. Two thirds cannot correctly place the Civil War between 1850 and 1900. 6 when they get the answers right, some are just guessing. Unlike math or science, ignorance of history cannot be 7 connected to loss of international competitiveness. But it does affect our future 8 a democratic nation and as individuals. The good news is that there is growing agreement 9 what is wrong with the teaching of history and what needs to be 10 to fix it. The steps are tentative and yet to be felt in most classrooms.