A quarter of US 8th graders think Canada is under the rule of a dictator

8th graders across the nation were recently given an assessment test, and it turns out that about a quarter of them think that Canada is under the rule of a dictator.

That's according to the test results report published by the U.S. National Assessment of Educational Progress.

Based on the report, France and Australia are also believed to be under an autocrat's thumb.

The actual question asked in the civics portion of the exam was, "What do the current governments of Canada, France, and Australia have in common?"

The correct response was B -- that they have constitutions that limit their power. Over half of the test takers selected that option.

C was the answer selected by a quarter of students and it read, "They have leaders with absolute power."

The remaining students identified the three countries as either being under military control or nations that discourage citizen participation.

Many have interpreted the overall poor showing as an issue with the American education system at large.

Professor Kenneth Holland of Ball State University, however, points out that it could just be a matter of Canada not being a topic that's sufficiently covered in schools.


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