In the aftermath of the furor provoked by the 1983 blue-ribbon report "A Nation At Risk," the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) conducted a groundbreaking study to determine what America's seventeen-year-olds knew about history and literature. Administered in 1986, the tests revealed the disheartening answer: not enough. Unfortunately, today there is no good measure of how much our children know about American history and literature. In this issue of "Education Outlook," the author describes a new study he authored for the Washington, DC-based nonprofit Common Core to fill this void and determine just how much today's seventeen-year-olds know about history and literature. His study found that America's seventeen-year-olds fare rather poorly when it comes to familiarity with major historical events and significant literary accomplishments. Perhaps these results should not come as a great surprise. For all the attention paid to school improvement in recent years, particularly at the high school level, the focus has been on reading, math, and graduation, a focus that has not served the broader aim of ensuring that our children are educated in the liberal arts and sciences. The author presents five recommendations deserving attention. (Contains 2 tables and 8 notes.)