History and civics education in America is languishing. A troubling number of Americans can't even pass a U.S. citizenship test. 

Pioneer Institute's recent poll findings on the topic are "pretty sobering,” explains Chris Sinacola, the organization's director of communications and media relations. 

The Pioneer Institute, a think tank based in Massachusetts, offers solutions for how schools and educators can ignite a passion for American history and solve the civics crisis facing the country in a new book, “Restoring the City on a Hill: U.S. History & Civics in America's Schools.” 

In Pioneer's poll, Massachusetts residents were asked questions drawn from the citizenship test. 

The questions were about “things that new citizens, or aspiring U.S. citizens, need to know and they need to get 60% to pass,” Sinacola says, adding that “the average score among our citizens was 63%."

"So you can say, 'Yay, we passed, we can all remain citizens,'” he says, but it is a bit of an “indictment” when some Americans don’t know how long a U.S. senator's term is or even how many members the Senate has.

“It's a bit of a warning sign,” Sinacola says. 

Sinacola joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to discuss America’s social studies crisis and how to correct the the course. 

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