ERIC Number: ED663847
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2024-Nov
Pages: 4
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Education Freedom Requires Assessment Choice. Sketching a New Conservative Education Agenda
Jeremy Wayne Tate
American Enterprise Institute
A January 2024 survey found that 72 percent of parents had considered a new school for their children in the past year. And in 2025, Texas and Tennessee are poised to become the next states to enact education savings account (ESA) programs, potentially giving millions more students the education options that their parents want for them. As a result, alternatives to traditional public education are booming. From 2010 to 2021, the number of charter schools increased by 2,500, while the number of public schools decreased by 2,100. Public charter school enrollment skyrocketed over that time from 1.8 million to 3.7 million students. And the number of students residing in states that have enacted ESAs now stands at nearly 22 million. However the benefits of school choice are constrained by narrow standardized testing options, which influence curriculum and teaching approaches. This brief argues that testing choice will relieve educators of the burden of teaching to tests that do not meet their diverse approaches. It also recommends state policymakers should provide for a diverse suite of testing choices at the K-12 and college entrance levels.
Descriptors: School Choice, College Choice, Alternative Assessment, Standardized Tests, College Entrance Examinations, Charter Schools, Teaching Methods, Academic Freedom, Test Construction
American Enterprise Institute. 1150 Seventeenth Street NW, Washington, DC 20036. Tel: 202-862-5800; Fax: 202-862-7177; Web site: http://www.aei.org
Publication Type: Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: American Enterprise Institute (AEI)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A