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 News from Around the Americas | February 2007 
Volunteers Take on Revamped Citizen Test
 Brady McCombs - Arizona Daily Star
| | Jean-Francois Camson, who came from France, accepts congratulations after correctly answering all the questions on the citizenship test being evaluated in Tucson. Another test taker said the new exam requires more thinking as opposed to memorization. (Dean Knuth/Arizona Daily Star) |
With three months of citizenship classes under his belt, Enrique Balmaceda volunteered Thursday to take the new pilot citizenship test, even though he knew it might be more difficult.
His decision paid dividends, as Balmaceda, a 36-year-old native of Sonora, Mexico, passed the test and will become a U.S. citizen at a ceremony in the coming months. Balmaceda was one of nine who passed the new test at the Tucson field office Thursday.
"Before, you could memorize everything, but now you have to think more," said Balmaceda, who took a citizenship class through the Pima County Adult Education Department. "But if you study, have a good teacher, it's easy."
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services began offering the pilot test to applicants Thursday in 10 cities across the country in an effort to get 6,000 people to take the test in the next three months, spokeswoman Marie Sebrechts said.
The new test was developed to replaces the current exam, which has been used since 1988.
The agency mailed letters to 9,000 citizenship applicants scheduled for interviews, inviting them to take the pilot exam. The letters contained study materials including 142 questions and answers for the U.S. history and civics portion of the exam, Sebrechts said. Each applicant is given 10 selected questions and is required to answer at least six correctly to pass. In addition, test takers must correctly write and read three sentences.
Applicants could elect to take the current test, but taking the pilot test is a low risk because applicants are allowed to immediately take the current exam if they don't pass. If they failed to pass one of the portions, for example, they have to retake only that portion of the current test to pass, Sebrechts said.
After 6,000 applicants take the new test, officials will evaluate the exam and, based on the results and feedback, ensure its relevance and fairness and trim the exam from a selection of 142 questions to 100 for launch in spring 2008, Sebrechts said. The new test will allow future citizens to learn about the United States instead of just studying to pass a test, she said.
Studying for and taking the pilot test helped Guadalupe Riley, a 30-year-old native of Sonora, to learn more about becoming a citizen and its benefits. She studied at home with her husband, Mike Riley, for about a month. On Thursday, she aced the test, answering all 10 questions correctly.
"It's almost the same," she said, referring to the current test. "It's really easy."
Mike Riley said becoming a citizen will give his wife more confidence and eliminate the hassle of always having to show her permanent-resident card at Border Patrol checkpoints and at the border. The Rileys live in Sierra Vista with their two children.
The new, more challenging test will make citizenship classes more vital, said Lenny Schwartz, a volunteer citizenship instructor with Pima Community College Adult Education.
"If they just get it in the mail, it's going to be tough to pass," said Schwartz, who was at the Tucson office Thursday to watch Balmaceda, his student, take and pass the test.
Pima College offers 10 free citizenship classes taught by volunteer teachers who each year help about 200 students become citizens, said Ami Magisos, the program coordinator. More of the volunteers' students will be taking the pilot test because, like Balmaceda, they like challenges, Schwartz said.
"It was a new challenge for me, and I wanted to help test the new test," said Balmaceda, who has been a legal permanent resident for five years and lives in Tucson. "The only hard part is that I was nervous and waiting. But the test itself was easy."
Contact reporter Brady McCombs at 573-4213 or bmccombs@azstarnet.com. |
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