Requiring High School Students to pass the US citizenship test to graduate

A nonpartisan group called the Civics Education Initiative (CEI) is sponsoring a proposal to make passing the civics portion of the USCIS Naturalization Test a requirement in all 50 states for getting a high school diploma or GED certification.

Reid Wilson in a piece at the Washington Post wrote about the proposal last September.

A group aimed at boosting civics education in U.S. schools is using today, the 227th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution, to begin pushing state legislatures to require high school graduates to pass the same exam that immigrants applying for U.S. citizenship must pass.

Those states are: Arizona, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Utah. Among the advocates of this requirement are retired or retiring public officials from the seven states.

In each of the seven states, CEI has prominent co-chairs who will back the legislation. Former senators Dennis DeConcini (D-Ariz.) and Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) will push legislation in Phoenix. Sen. Tom Coburn (R) is supporting the measure in his home state of Oklahoma. And former South Carolina governors Jim Edwards (R), Dick Riley (D) and Jim Hodges (D) will advocate for the test in Columbia.

The test is not terribly difficult. The 100 questions, as well as the correct answers, are freely available from government and other sources. 10 of those 100 questions are randomly selected on test day and of those 10 the citizenship applicant needs a score of just 60% to pass.

Have a look at the test yourself.
Civics (History and Government) Questions for the Naturalization Test

This proposal is laudable and if implemented it would increase very basic civic literacy among young people. But considering how low that literacy level is among Americans of all ages, would a simple quiz with rote answers be enough to stimulate curiosity about public affairs and spur civic involvement?