NORTH SMITHFIELD, R.I. — Should U.S. high school students know at least as much about the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Federalist papers as immigrants passing an American citizenship test?

In a growing number of school systems, having such a basic knowledge is now a graduation requirement. But states are taking different approaches.

Kentucky last week and Arkansas on March 16 became the latest of more than a dozen states since 2015 requiring the high school social studies curriculum to include material covered by the 100 questions asked on the naturalization exam. Lawmakers in other states, including Minnesota, are hoping to foster even deeper understanding of the fundamentals of American democracy by adding a full course to study its most important documents.

It’s a bipartisan cause, and in many states such bills are jointly introduced by Republicans and Democrats. But proponents’ motivations vary from dismay about the lack of participation in local school boards and town halls to concerns about how Republican President Donald Trump and his supporters view the power of the executive branch.

A campaign by the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Joe Foss Institute has led many states to pass laws requiring students to know what’s on the citizenship test.

“It’s not a panacea or silver bullet, but it’s a step forward,” said the group’s Lucian Spataro, who said 17 states have adopted the model or something similar. “You have to learn the basics before you can have the higher-level discussions.”

Other civics education boosters say such a mandate is too simplistic. “If you do something like that, people are going to start teaching to the test and teaching a game of Trivial Pursuit,” said Charles Quigley, executive director of the Calabasas, Calif.-based Center for Civic Education. “Kids are already tested to death.”

A Rhode Island bill is partly inspired by a ninth-grade class taught at North Smithfield High School. The honors class uses the “We the People” curriculum developed by Quigley’s group. One March day, teenagers debated whether a police officer can search a suspected gang member’s smartphone without a warrant.

Their teacher, Natalie O’Brien, gently prodded them to think critically and tap into more than 200 years of American history and legal philosophy.

Student Megan Skinner said, “It gives us an entirely new perspective on all the events that are going on. You see all these things in the news, and especially about the election, and all the things that are going on with the executive orders he passed, the travel bans. Before this class, we wouldn’t have understood these things.”