HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Gov. Tom Wolf plans to sign a new law requiring Pennsylvania students to take a test of civics knowledge, although they don’t need it to graduate.

Wolf’s office announced his plans hours after the state House on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly for the bill that mandates a locally developed test of U.S. history, government and civics.

The test would be administered to students in grades seven through 12.

Those who get a perfect score will qualify for a certificate developed by the state Education Department.

Schools will have to report how many students were deemed to have passed the test.

Supporters say there’s an alarming lack of civics knowledge among American adults.

In May Jim Thorpe high school student Christian Gould presented the members of the board with a petition to implement mandatory civic education as a graduation requirement.

“I am a very politically involved person, and I came to the realization that that’s not very common with the people I speak with. I talk to people in their 20s and 30s, and they don’t know who represents them in Congress, or the Pennsylvania State House. They’re not involved. So, I thought, how can I change this, how can I get people more educated and involved in politics?” Gould said.

“Overall, it appears that states that strengthened or maintained their civic education requirements had higher youth turnout in 2012 than states that had cut their civic education requirements, but the turnout difference was already evident before any recent changes in laws,” a report from The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement said.

Gould put together a petition requesting that the school board increase civics education, preferably with a required class. While shopping the idea around with fellow students and teachers, he found a number of people willing to contribute to the conversation.

Principal Thomas Lesisko said that faculty and administration members have been discussing the matter of civics for at least two years.

“It’s something we’ve been talking about with the social studies department. Should we have a stand-alone civics course, should we introduce more civics? Because we’re finding kids are not getting the full grasp of how government runs and their responsibility as citizens,” he said.