Does National Testing Make the Grade?

In his State of the Union address in February, President Clinton called for national standardized testing of fourth-graders in reading and eighth-graders in math.

The call was meant to refocus America on success in education, but it also created a debate about the role the federal government should have in setting such standards.

Recently, the head of the state Board of Education rebuked California’s superintendent of public instruction for joining Clinton’s campaign for education standards. But the superintendent explained that no formal endorsement had been made.

Should there be nationwide standardized tests for fourth- and eighth-graders?

Yvonne Chan, executive director of the Vaughn Next Century Learning Center in Pacoima:

“I think it’s a good idea. I am looking for something that will show progress of the students. . . . However, I hope we will also supplement this with other periodic diagnostic tests we can give every few months, as well as state standardized testing. . . . But if the nation has one, I’d use it . . . We would like this test to document success and hope it will also provide guidance.”

Carol Jago, director of the California Reading and Literature Project at UCLA:

“Absolutely yes. Parents, teachers and educational policymakers all need this data. Parents want to know how their children measure up against national averages. Teachers need to know how their instructional practices are reflected in student achievement. Policymakers need to base educational decisions on more than the political climate or advocacy. . . . There is no other way to build accountability into the system. Common assessments provide us with a common language for talking about what children should be learning in school.”

Dan Edwards, spokesman for the governor’s education office:

“The governor thinks that having nationwide standardized tests is not a bad thing, but he would like to be sure that we be careful of what do we base a nationwide test on and the type of questions we would be asking. . . . The governor supports the standardization of tests at the state level. The key step, however, is to have individualized student test scores so you could track particular students from grade to grade and mark his or her progress in the different subject areas. . . . We’d have to assume that any nationwide test would have to be done with nationwide standards. . . . [To develop that] we’d get 50 states chiming in on what the standards will be and in the end you end up lowering the bar. . . . A nationwide test of that variety wouldn’t make much sense to us.”

Lance Izumi, senior fellow with the Pacific Research Institute, a conservative think tank in San Francisco:

“At the national level you’re going to have an incredible number of interest groups fighting over the system, the teachers unions and administrators organizations and various testing companies all fighting over this. . . . I think it’s going to be less likely you’re going to have a rigorous test we’re all going to agree on. . . . I believe the federal government role in education should be secondary to state and local.”