Citizens for Responsible Education Reform

National Testing

Individualized National Tests for 4th and 8th Graders

Issue Description

In his 1997 State of the Union message, President Clinton proposed that individualized national tests be given to 4th and 8th graders in reading and math. Congressional approval was not given for this unprecedented action. The Department of Education has already prepared a contract (August/September 1997) for the development of these tests and is planning to administer them nationally beginning in 1999. The plan to implement these unauthorized national tests should receive congressional approval first, not after the fact.

CRER Analysis and Position

An amendment was offered on the House floor to prohibit the Department of Education from spending any FY 1998 funds for these tests. We are concerned about the potential for creation of a "national" curriculum in order to prepare students for these tests, thus undermining local control of the schools.

Setting and achieving high standards is a goal we must set for all students; however, this is best done by the parents and teachers who are most familiar with the children. Additionally, many states and some localities already have successful testing procedures. New plans for national testing will duplicate some of these efforts, and in the process spend dollars that would be better used in other more productive ways.

Current Status

The U.S. Senate, by a margin of 87-13, voted on September 11, 1997 to approve the administration's national testing plan with the caveat that responsibility for test development be moved from the Department of Education to the bipartisan National Assessment Governing Board. Additionally, the Senate narrowly approved an amendment by Sen. Slade Gorton (R-WA), on a vote of 51-49, to consolidate billions of dollars in education programs including Goals 2000, bilingual and immigrant assistance, vocational education and aid to disadvantaged children into block grants.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted 295-125 in favor of Rep. Bill Goodling's (R-PA) amendment prohibiting any funding in fiscal 1998 for development, planning, implementation, or administration of national testing in reading or mathematics. Rep. Goodling is Chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, and is a former school principal, superintendent, and school board president.

Sen. John Ashcroft (R-MO) had gathered the support of 37 Senate colleagues in his effort to find enough votes to sustain a filibuster if the final Appropriations bill did not adopt the Goodling Amendment against funding for national testing.

A compromise between Congress and the Clinton Administration has been hammered out in Conference Committee and was voted on November 5. The House passed the Labor/HHS/Education Appropriations bill by an unofficial votecount of 352-65 on Nov. 7. The bill now goes to the Senate, where a vote is expected as early as Nov. 8. "President Clinton's plan for new national tests is dead for a year," said Rep. Goodling.

Please review the Washington Post reference cited below for up-to-date reporting on these developments.

For additional information on this contentious issue, visit:
Compilation of Washington Post reporting on National Testing
U.S. Department of Education
House Committee on Education and the Workforce
National Assessment Governing Board

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